Is ex-PM Nawaz Sharif returning to Pakistan? What will it mean for the country?

Pakistan has enacted a law that limits the period lawmakers can be disqualified from office, which, as per reports, has opened the way for exiled former premier Nawaz Sharif’s return to politics. He has been in self-exile in United Kingdom’s London since November 2019 after getting a four-week bail from the Lahore High Court on medical grounds. Before leaving for London, three-time former Pakistan prime minister Sharif was serving a seven-year prison term in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail in the Al-Azizia corruption case. What is the bill that has enabled Nawaz Sharif’s potential return to Pakistan and its politics? What can happen next? Let’s take a closer look. Pakistan’s Elections (Amendment) Act 2023 On Sunday (25 June), Pakistan’s National Assem­bly passed the Elections (Amendment) Act 2023, allowing courts to disqualify parliamentarians only “for a period not exceeding five years”, reported AFP. According to a Dawn report, the amendment to Section 232 (Qualifications and Disqualifications) of the Elections Act states: “Notwithstanding anything contained in any other provision of this Act, any other law for the time being in force and judgement, order or decree of any court, including the Supreme Court and a high court, the disqualification of a person to be elected, chosen or to remain as a member of the Parliament or provincial assembly under paragraph (f) of clause (1) of Article 62 of the Constitution shall be for a period not exceeding five years from the declaration of the court of law in that regard and such declaration shall be subject to the due process of law”. The legislation also empowers the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to set the date for elections unilaterally, without consulting the President of the country, the report added. As per Geo News, Pakistan’s interim president Sadiq Sanjrani signed the bill into law on Monday (26 June). Sanjrani has been serving as the acting president in the absence of President Arif Alvi who is in Saudi Arabia on the Hajj pilgrimage. ‘Person-specific legislation’ Attacking the government, the Opposition called the legislation a “person-specific legislation” that would benefit Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supreme leader Nawaz Sharif and Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP) patron Jahangir Khan Tareen, as per Dawn. Both leaders were disqualified by courts for more than five years. Will Nawaz Sharif return? It is quite likely that 73-year-old Nawaz, the elder brother of Pakistan prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, will be making a comeback to politics. “The ruling PML-N and its coalition partners want to bring Nawaz Sharif back,” political analyst Hasan Askari was quoted as saying by news agency AFP.

“The bill has been passed to achieve this objective.”

He, however, added that it is not yet clear if Nawaz will contest the upcoming general elections which are expected to be held in October this year. The tenure of the incumbent National Assembly is set to expire in August. As per Pakistan’s Constitution, fresh general elections must be conducted within 60 days of the end of the term, reported PTI.  “Nawaz Sharif will be the main campaigner for PML-N in the next election,” Askari told AFP. “His return will be very helpful for the party politically, but it’s not clear whether he himself will contest the election.” [caption id=“attachment_12799942” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Shehbaz Sharif has urged his elder brother, Nawaz, to return to Pakistan and ’lead’ the nation for a fourth term. Reuters File photo[/caption] Nawaz Sharif was holding the post of Pakistan ’s premier when he was disqualified by the Supreme Court in 2017. A year later, the apex court barred him for life from assuming public office in the Panama Papers case. Last week, a Pakistani accountability court acquitted Nawaz in an alleged 37-year-old bribe case where he was accused of illegally transferring “precious state land” in the Punjab province’s capital to one of the country’s leading media barons. However, not all of his legal woes are over yet, including the graft allegations that led to his ouster in 2017. ALSO READ: Why Imran Khan’s Enemy No 1 is Pak army chief General Asim Munir Big Dubai meet According to Pakistani media, PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif and former Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) met earlier this week in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Maryam Nawaz, Nawaz’s daughter and senior vice president of PML-N, and PPP chairman and Zardari’s son — Bilawal Bhutto Zardari — were also present at this meet in Dubai, sources told The Express Tribune. Both PML-N and PPP are part of the ruling coalition Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).

As per a Dawn News report, the two leaders discussed key issues, including names for the caretaker setup and who will hold which key position if the alliance comes to power in the next general elections. “The uncertainty surrounding the next general elections may end soon after detailed deliberations by the top leadership of the two main coalition partners in the federal government are concluded in the UAE,” the report cited sources as saying. [caption id=“attachment_12799962” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari reportedly held discussions in Dubai about the upcoming general elections in Pakistan. Reuters File Photo[/caption] Sources told The Express Tribune that issues such as the date of dissolution of the assemblies for general elections and the current political situation in Pakistan were also part of the deliberations. Speaking to Dawn, a PML-N insider said the main agenda of the key meeting between the two veteran politicians was the upcoming polls this year. “If the elections are held at their scheduled time, then the caretaker set-up in the centre will be of the PPP and PML-N’s choosing after taking Maulana Fazlur Rehman on board, of course,” the source was quoted as saying. Shehbaz Sharif may also arrive in Dubai to take part in further discussions, the PML-N source added. ‘Lead nation to fourth term’ Earlier in June, 71-year-old Shehbaz Sharif urged his elder brother to come back from Britain, lead the party’s poll campaign and become the prime minister for a fourth time, as per reports. “I was waiting for my elder brother — who has been in self-imposed exile in London since November 2019 owing to health reasons — to return to Pakistan and then hold the party meeting so he could hand over the PML-N’s presidency back to him,” the Pakistan premier said at the central general council meeting of the PML-N, as per the PTI report. According to Geo News, the Pakistan prime minister signalled that his elder brother will return to the country soon. “You will see that the map of politics will change when Nawaz Sharif returns to Pakistan,” he added. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.