Nawaz Sharif set to return to Pakistan: Ex-PM’s many, many controversies

Nawaz Sharif is set to return to Pakistan.

The three-time former prime minister has been in exile in London since 2019 where he went for medical treatment.

Now, a Pakistani court on Thursday has granted Sharif protection from arrest in a slew of cases.

Let’s take a closer look at Sharif’s long and tumultuous political career:

Diving into politics

Sharif entered politics in 1976 with the Pakistan Muslim League (PML).

This development occurred after the Sharif family steel business was nationalised under the government of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and kicked off the beginning of a long political rivalry between the families.

As per BBC, Sharif began his career as a protégé of a military dictator General Zia ul-Haq.

He had a big hand in the Pakistan establishment’s schemes to wreck the Pakistan People’s Party.

By 1981, Sharif had joined the Punjab provincial cabinet as finance minister and by 1985 was chief minister of Punjab.

Sharif then split from the PML to form his own outfit – the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

Feud with Pakistan’s president in first stint as PM

In 1990, Sharif was elected prime minister of Pakistan for the first time.

However, Sharif soon developed a rivalry with then president Ghulam Ishaq Khan.

The rivalry would soon escalate into an open feud.

In February 1993, Sharif threatened to curb Khan’s power.

Khan responded by sacking Sharif on charges of corruption and political ineptitude.

However, in May 1993, the Supreme Court returned Sharif to his high office.

As per India Today, Pakistan’s apex court voided Khan’s sacking of the government and dissolving of the National Assembly in a 10-1 decision.

It also stated that Khan acted in a ‘fit of anger’.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s powerful army had become increasingly troubled by the spat between Khan and Sharif.

In July, an under-pressure Sharif would resign and dissolve Parliament – giving in to pressure from the military and Opposition legislators led by his predecessor Benazir Bhutto.

Khan also resigned as part of an army-brokered agreement to end the political feud that had paralyzed the government.

The Washington Post quoted Khan as saying in a statement, “In order to uphold the national interest and {with the} firm belief that it shall help resolve the current political crisis, I have decided to volunarily resign my office."

Bhutto had aligned herself with the president in attempts to oust Sharif in the hope that early elections would return her to power.

Her plan worked.

The Pakistan People’s Party of Benazir Bhutto, daughter of Zulfiqar Bhutto who was the first ever elected prime minister of Pakistan, would defeat Sharif’s PMLN.

Overthrown in coup during second stint

In 1997, Sharif was elected as prime minister for the second time.

Though Pakistan successfully tested nuclear weapons in response to India’s atomic programme, Sharif was far more conciliatory towards India.

In 1999, Sharif invited Atal Behari Vajpayee to his country where both leaders inked the famed Lahore declaration.

However, the clock was already ticking on Sharif’s second prime ministership.

The Pakistan military executed its plans for Kargil – which Sharif claimed was performed without his knowledge and presented to him as a fait accompli.

After Kargil went badly for Pakistan, Sharif was toppled in a military coup by General Pervez Musharraf – the man who seemingly planned the operation – the Pakistan army’s fourth takeover since the country’s Independence.

Sharif was then convicted of corruption and given a life sentence for hijacking over an incident when he ordered Musharraf’s plane not to land in Islamabad.

However, in 2000 Sharif allowed to go into exile in Saudi Arabia and was given a presidential pardon the day his family left amid reports of a deal with the military.

Return to Pakistan, becomes PM third time

In 2007, Sharif returned from exile to contest the 2008 polls.

This was part of a political deal that ended Musharraf’s military rule.

However, his PMLN lost the election to the PPP after Benazir was assassinated ahead of the polls.

In 2013, Sharif was elected prime minister for third time.

His PML-N swept back to power in an election that gave its allies a solid National Assembly majority.

Panama Papers leak

Then, in April 2016, the Panama Papers leaked.

The papers showed the involvement of Sharif’s family in offshore companies including two used to buy luxury homes in London.

As per The Guardian, the papers showed Sharif’s children, who were at the time minors, had purchased the properties in the early 1990s in the British Virgin Islands via offshore companies in the British Virgin Islands in the early 1990s.

Sharif is assumed to have made the purchases for them.

But Sharif insisted that his wealth was accumulated before he ever entered politics.

Imran Khan, the cricketer-turned-politico pounced on the development.

Imran threatened to paralyse Pakistan’s capital of Islamabad, with a “lockdown” of street protests unless demands for an independent investigation into the Panama revelations were met.

Sharif, meanwhile, denied any wrongdoing.

In November 2016, Pakistan’s Supreme Court agreed to set up a judicial commission to probe corruption allegations against Sharif stemming from Panama Papers leaks.

Khan backed off from his lockdown threat.

Pak SC brings down the hammer

In July 2017, the Pakistan Supreme Court disqualified Sharif from office for not declaring income from a company in United Arab Emirates – which was not in the original Panama Papers revelations.

As per BBC, Pakistan’s apex court in its verdict said Sharif did not state “his un-withdrawn receivables” from Capital FZE.

“He is no more eligible to be an honest member of the parliament,” Judge Ejaz Afzal Khan was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Sharif had claimed his position as Capital FZE chairman was an ‘honorary post’ in which he received no salary or benefits.

He argued that the post “made it easier to obtain a UAE visa as and when required.”

Sharif then stepped down – cutting short his third tenure as prime minister.

A PML-N spokesperson said Sharif had done so in spite of “serious reservations” about the verdict and claimed that he had not received a free and fair trial.

“History will make its own judgment after this verdict. And Nawaz Sharif will be successful in the court of God and people of Pakistan,” the spokesperson was quoted as saying by The Guardian.

Imran, meanwhile, proclaimed victory.

“Our struggle proves that mighty people in our country can also be held accountable now. Until and unless these powerful people of the country are held accountable there is no future of Pakistan,” Imran was quoted as saying by The Guardian.

The court also ordered the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to open a criminal trial into ownership of the London flats along with several other Panama Papers revelations.

As per The Guardian, Sharif’s defence in the Panama Papers leak fell apart when his daughter Mariam Nawaz Sharif claimed only to be a trustee of the firms that purchased the luxury flats.

Though the documents were dated to 2006, they used a font Microsoft Calibri, that was available only from 2007.

“During the course of the proceedings, certain documents had been given, which were blatantly false, and on the basis of those documents the supreme court could conclude that there has been forgery. On that basis, they have the right to disqualify the prime minister,” Ali Zafar, a barrister and former president of the supreme court bar association, told The Guardian.

In April 2018, the Supreme Court ordered Sharif to be barred from political office for life.

In July 2018, the NAB court convicted Sharif of corruption and sentenced him in absentia to 10 years in prison.

Exile in London, on cusp of return

In 2019,  Sharif, while facing further graft charges, complained of chest pains. He was granted permission by his successor, Imran , to travel to London for medical treatment following a court order.

Sharif prolonged his stay in London, saying his doctors were not allowing him to travel.

He has been a fugitive from justice since failing to appear before a Pakistan court in 2019.

In 2020, an anti-graft court in Islamabad issued a warrant for his arrest after he failed to return home. The same court on Thursday suspended the arrest warrant for him until 24 October 24.

The decision by the Islamabad High Court is a major boost for Sharif and his party and comes two days before he is to return to Pakistan ahead of parliamentary elections in January as the country faces deepening political and economic turmoil.

Sharif travelled from London to Saudi Arabia last week and is to return home on a special plane from Dubai on Saturday, according to his Pakistan Muslim League party.

Also on Thursday, the Islamabad High Court granted Sharif bail until 24 October, giving him protection from arrest until then, according to his legal team.

Sharif’s party hailed the court’s decision. His special plane is to land at Islamabad’s airport on Saturday, and he will travel to Lahore the same day to address a rally to be held at a public park under tight security.

Shehbaz Sharif hailed the granting of bail to his brother by the Islamabad High Court.

“The elected prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, was disqualified based on a fictitious and fabricated story. He was implicated in absurd cases and subjected to mistreatment. Any fair hearing would have established his innocence,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The Pakistan Muslim League is currently widely unpopular because Shehbaz Sharif’s government failed to contain inflation, though he says he managed to save the country from default.

The party wants Nawaz to head its election campaign, although he is expected to appear before multiple courts in Islamabad starting 24 October to face his remaining legal cases.

Imran, Sharif’s successor and main political rival, is also imprisoned in a corruption case and is serving a three-year sentence.

Imran was ousted in a no-confidence vote in April 2022 and was replaced by Sharif’s younger brother, Shehbaz Sharif, who served as prime minister until August, when he stepped down to allow an interim government to run daily affairs and organize the elections.

Imran, who was convicted of corruption under Shehbaz Sharif’s government, is still Pakistan’s leading opposition figure and enjoys a large following, along with his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.

Pakistan has been in deep political turmoil since Imran’s ouster last year.

With inputs from agencies