‘Fugitive’ Nawaz Sharif will return to Pakistan in February, absconding in London in the name of treatment

Lahore: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is likely to return to the country next month after more than three years in self-imposed exile in the UK. Some senior leaders of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) gave this information on Thursday. PML-N’s Punjab province governor Baligur Rehman said Nawaz’s daughter and PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz would also return from London this month to look after the party’s affairs. “Nawaz Sharif is returning to Pakistan within a month and I will go to the airport to receive him,” he said.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Malik Ahmad Khan said Nawaz Sharif is considering the party’s request to return ahead of crucial elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, the party of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, dissolved the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies, insisting on holding mid-term elections in the country.

PML-N wants to contest elections under the leadership of Nawaz
The Special Assistant to the Prime Minister said that elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would be held after 90 days and the PML-N wanted Nawaz to be in Pakistan to lead the campaign in both the provinces. Nawaz’s close aide and federal minister Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said Nawaz would return next month. “Nawaz will return in February to defeat Khan in the political contest,” he told the media.

Rana Sanaullah also confirmed
Home Minister Rana Sanaullah said Nawaz would return after getting relief in the cases he was facing. “Nawaz will not go to jail on his return as he will obtain bail (before his return),” he said.

Nawaz Sharif is undergoing treatment in London
‘Unwell’ Nawaz is staying in London for treatment. The High Court had given him a relief of four weeks. He was serving a seven-year jail term in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail in the Al-Azizia corruption case before moving to London on medical grounds. Nawaz’s younger brother (Prime Minister) Shehbaz Sharif had given an undertaking to the Lahore High Court that his elder brother would return within four weeks or after doctors give him a certificate of health.