Nawaz to return to Pakistan on October 21: Shehbaz

LONDON (Agencies): In a major development, former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif has revealed the date for his elder brother and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif’s return to Pakistan ahead of the upcoming elections to lead the party’s political campaign in the country.
“Nawaz Sharif will reach Pakistan on October 21,” Shehbaz told media on Tuesday. The statement came after a meeting of the PML-N’s top leadership headed by Nawaz in London. Nawaz — who has been in self-imposed exile in London since November 2019 owing to health reasons — was disqualified for life in 2017 by the Supreme Court for not declaring a receivable salary.
While speaking to the media after the high-level party huddle in London, Shehbaz said that the date for Nawaz’s return was finalised after consultation with the party members. He added that the credit for Pakistan’s attainment of nukes, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the ending 20 hours of electricity load-shedding in the country “goes to Nawaz”.
“Nawaz returned with thanks the package which was offered to him for not making Pakistan a nuclear power, saying that Pakistan’s interest was much more than $5 billion,” Shehbaz further said. If the momentum of Pakistan’s progress in the industrial and other sectors during the period from 2013 to 2018 hadn’t broken with the flawed elections of 2018, the PML-N president said, the country would have been much ahead in the field of development.
He went on to say that the journey of development will continue from where Nawaz had left in 2017 when he was removed from power under a false and baseless case. “Nawaz wasn’t deprived of power but Pakistan’s people were deprived of development and prosperity.” When asked about the PML-N’s stance if the elections are not conducted on time, the former premier said that holding polls is the Election Commission of Pakistan’s constitutional responsibility and he hopes that the electoral watchdog will fulfil its responsibility fairly.
The London meeting was attended by Suleman Shehbaz, Hassan Nawaz, former federal minister Khawaja Asif, Malik Mohammad Ahmed Khan and Nasir Janjua. The party’s strategy regarding the election, Nawaz’s return and the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) stance on the elections came under discussion. Meanwhile, former federal minister and party spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb also confirmed Shehbaz’s statement on in a post on microblogging site X.
“Important statement of former prime minister and president of PML-N Shehbaz Sharif — the architect of Pakistan and the leader of the people Muhammad Nawaz Sharif will return home on October 21,” She also said that the PML-N supremo would be warmly welcomed upon his return. Last week, Nawaz himself for the first time confirmed his homecoming next month, during his interaction with his party workers and supporters at Stanhope House.