Nawaz’s return to Pakistan on Oct 21 is final, says Shehbaz

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif on Friday snubbed talks of a delay in party supremo Nawaz Sharif’s return to Pakistan, saying his elder brother would land on Pakistan soil on October 21.

“Don’t ask this again and again — the date for Nawaz’s return is final and he will arrive on October 21,” Shehbaz, former prime minister, said in a press conference in Lahore.

Earlier during the day, a medical report on the health of Nawaz Sharif was submitted to the Lahore High Court (LHC) ahead of his expected return to Pakistan.

The report said Nawaz had “some residual anginal symptoms” which would require “frequent follow-up investigations” in London and Pakistan.

It also said persistent symptoms and the Covid-19 pandemic had prevented the former PM’s return to Pakistan earlier.

During the presser, Shehbaz reiterated a stance that the vote of no confidence against the former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan “was a constitutional matter”, adding that the country would have “defaulted” if the then Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) led coalition hadn’t come into power.

“We saved the country and sacrificed our politics,” Shehbaz claimed. “Since we saved the country, we will save the politics also.”

He said the coalition government faced many challenges such as inflation International Monetary Fund (IMF) related concerns, which were “inherited from the previous PTI-led government”.

Didn’t know about missing anchor Imran Riaz: Shehbaz

Answering a question, Shehbaz Sharif said he wasn’t aware about what happened to anchor and journalist Imran Riaz, and whether he went missing during his tenure as the prime minister.

It may be noted that Riaz remained missing for more than four months and returned home on September 25. He was “safely recovered”, said Sialkot Police in a post on social media platform X.

Nawaz Sharif’s return

Nawaz was said to return to Pakistan in September to lead PML-N’s election campaign earlier. However, in a Nawaz-Shehbaz meeting, it was decided the party supremo would delay his return until a later date.

Shehbaz had said in July that if the PML-N was voted to power in the forthcoming elections, Nawaz would be the party’s candidate for the slot of prime minister.

Nawaz has been in exile since 2019 and has primarily lived in London after being disqualified for life.

The possibility of Nawaz’s return increased after the Senate passed amendments to the Election Act, changing the limitations of how long a parliamentarian can be disqualified.

In the rules passed by the upper house on June 17, in cases where the duration has not been specifically outlined, a person’s disqualification to run for provincial or central legislatures will not exceed five years.

They also have a chance to overturn their disqualifications with the help of four sections of the Supreme Court (Review of Judgements and Orders) Act 2023.

Nawaz left for London on November 19, 2019, after the Islamabad High Court released him on bail from a seven-year sentence for corruption. His bail was approved on medical grounds for eight weeks in the Al Azizia case.

He was diagnosed with an immune system disorder.

His departure had come after deliberation and undertaking by his brother Shehbaz Sharif, who stated he would “ensure the return of his brother within four weeks or on certification by doctors that he has regained his health and is fit to return back to Pakistan”.