Former Pak PM: Outgoing prime minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that his brother and former Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif will return to the country next month to face his pending court cases and also lead the party’s campaign for the next general elections.
Nawaz Sharif has been residing in self-imposed exile in the UK since November 2019 after he was convicted in the Al-Azizia Mills and Avenfield corruption cases in 2018.
The former Pakistan PM was serving a seven-year imprisonment at Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail in the Al-Azizia Mills case before he was allowed to proceed to London in 2019 on "medical grounds".
In a Television interview, Shehbaz Sharif said that he would travel to London to meet Nawaz Sharif as soon as the caretaker government takes charge in the country.
Shehbaz Sharif reiterated that Nawaz Sharif would be Pakistan's prime minister for the fourth time if the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) won the next election to be held later this year.
His statement came as the process to appoint caretaker setup formally kicked off with the dissolution of the National Assembly on Wednesday, three days ahead of the mandated period.
“Nawaz Sharif will come back to Pakistan next month and will face the law and lead the election campaign,” the incumbent prime minister said. He, however, did not give the exact date of his brother.
Nawaz Sharif had stepped down as prime minister in 2016 after the Pakistan Supreme Court disqualified him for life for concealing assets.
His appeals against the conviction are currently pending in the relevant courts.
Former Pak PM Imran Khan was sentenced to three years in prison by an Islamabad trial court on Saturday in the Toshakhana corruption case for unlawfully selling state gifts during his tenure as prime minister from 2018 to 2022.
He was subsequently arrested by the Punjab police from his residence in Lahore.
Khan, who is currently lodged in the Attock Jail, appealed his conviction and the three-year prison sentence in the case by filing a plea through his lawyers at the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday.
Shehbaz Sharif, who is also the PML-N president, hoped that his party would win the next general elections and he will work as an activist of the party under the Nawaz Sharif-led government. Shehbaz Sharif said he will also consult his brother Nawaz Sharif regarding the appointment of a caretaker prime minister.
(With PTI inputs)
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