Islamabad: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is expected to return to Pakistan from London after Eid al-Fitr, Pakistan Muslim League (N) sources said. Top party leaders have said that Nawaz will return to the country and face legal and constitutional charges.
The Lahore High Court in 2019 allowed Sharif, who is facing corruption charges, to go abroad for four weeks for treatment. He has been in London ever since.
“Nawaz Sharif will be seen in Pakistan after Eid,” said PML-N leader Mian Javed Latif, who was sworn in as a member of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s cabinet on Tuesday. Latif added that the 72-year-old Nawaz would face cases under the law and the constitution and that the party would trust the court and accept the verdict.
The Lahore High Court had warned Sharif that he would face legal action if he did not return within four weeks. Doctors said he was healthy and could travel.
He was released on bail after serving seven years in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail in connection with the Al-Aziziya Mill scam. Nawaz’s passport expired in February but the previous government led by Imran Khan refused to renew his passport.
However, after the election of his brother Shahbaz Sharif as Prime Minister, it was reported that the Interior Ministry had been directed to renew the passports of Nawaz and his brother-in-law Ishaq Dar.
Latif said the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had elected Bilawal Bhutto Zardari as foreign minister and would be sworn in after his return from London. According to party sources, Bhutto will travel to London to meet Nawaz Sharif and congratulate the coalition government on the current political situation.