Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has returned to Pakistan after living abroad by his own choice. He has come back in time for the upcoming general elections.
Not many people would have predicted that someone who has been a constant annoyance to the powerful military throughout their career would experience such a remarkable change of fortune.
When he was recently in Pakistan, Mr. Sharif was in prison for doing something wrong. However, in November 2019, he was allowed to get out of jail because of health reasons.
Now it seems like the military is ready to welcome the person they removed from power in a sudden takeover – and there is a possibility that he might become the Prime Minister once more.
And there’s more – in a surprising change of positions, his opponent Imran Khan, who took his place as prime minister in 2018, is now in prison after having a disagreement with the military.
Even though it feels like we’ve experienced this before, we are not sure about what will happen next.
What will occur when Sharif arrives?
The ex-Prime Minister has been in London for the last four years. He was given permission to leave jail in an air ambulance, supposedly for medical care.
He has been increasing his involvement in politics since 2022, when Imran Khan was removed from power through a parliamentary vote.
MrSharif’s party, PML-N, became the governing party of Pakistan at that time, with his younger brother Shahbaz in control. Now, my older brother is returning home. He is supposed to come from Dubai to Islamabad on Saturday, and then go to our home city Lahore for a public gathering.
He has some unresolved court cases, but he will not worry about being taken to jail because he has been granted bail until the next court hearing, which will take place next week.
Mr Sharif has come back from exile before.
In 2007, he and another opposition leader, Benazir Bhutto, made an important agreement with the military. This allowed them to participate in elections for the first time since he was removed from power in a coup in 1999.
All the main opposing parties agreed then, unlike now – Ms Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) won by a large margin, weeks after she was killed at a campaign event.
Will Sharif become the Prime Minister again?
His party has stated that he will be their candidate for Prime Minister in elections scheduled for this year but have been postponed until 2024.
However, the 73-year-old man has many problems to deal with – especially a struggling economy, which his political party is mostly held responsible for, and widespread beliefs that the election will not be conducted fairly because his main rival is imprisoned.
The military plays a significant role in governing Pakistan.
When he was overseas, the former Prime Minister spoke out against the military at times. He specifically accused a former leader of the ISI intelligence agency and the previous army chief of staff for causing political unrest, but they denied these claims.
MrSharif claimed that false cases had been filed against him and accused the judges in the country of working together. He said that this had caused a weak democracy in Pakistan where none of the prime ministers have been able to finish their time in office as dictated by the constitution.