Former Pakistani Prime Minister Sharif returns from exile 1,600 arrests during major operation against drug gangs in England

Former three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has returned to Pakistan from exile ahead of new elections. He landed early on Saturday afternoon local time in the capital Islamabad and from there traveled to the megacity Lahore, local media report. A meeting for the politician has been planned there. Sharif is likely to support the election campaign of his conservative Pakistan Muslim League, which supplied Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif until parliament was dissolved in August. This in turn is Nawaz Sharif’s brother.

In 2019, the politician went into exile in England after being sentenced to several years in prison in 2018 on corruption charges. To avoid immediate arrest of the 73-year-old, the High Court in Islamabad on Thursday ordered that the man not be taken into custody upon arrival. Sharif will now seek to have his conviction overturned so he can lead his party in parliamentary elections scheduled for January, his daughter Maryam Nawaz said.

Sharif was first appointed prime minister in 1990 but was forced to resign in early 1993 after a political dispute with military-backed President Ghulam Ishaq Khan. He also did not complete his subsequent term in office. Time and again, prime ministers in the country with more than 240 million inhabitants are prematurely deposed and then jailed as opposition politicians. Former Prime Minister Imran Khan is also currently in custody in connection with an ongoing case. Pakistan’s powerful military is seen as crucial to the rise and fall of politicians. (sda/dpa)