Photo: Collected
Pakistan's three time elected former PM Nawaz Sharif was returning home Saturday (21 October) on a special flight from Dubai, ending four years of self-imposed exile in London as he seeks to win the support of voters ahead of parliamentary elections due in January.
Sharif is expected to address a massive homecoming rally in the eastern city of Lahore later Saturday and his return comes as Pakistan experiences deepening political turmoil and one of its worst economic crises.
"Today I am going to Pakistan after four years and I am feeling very happy with the grace of Allah," Sharif told reporters before leaving for Islamabad from Dubai. He had arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Friday (20 October) from Saudi Arabia after traveling there last week from London.
Sharif has been a fugitive since he failed to appear before a Pakistan court in 2019, when he was allowed to travel abroad by his successor, Imran Khan, to receive medical treatment after he complained of chest pains. Sharif later prolonged his stay in London, saying his doctors were not allowing him to travel.
Sharif's main political rival, Khan was arrested in August after a court convicted and sentenced him to three years in a graft case.
Sharif was convicted in 2018 and sentenced to 10 years in prison in a corruption case involving purchases of luxury apartments in London. His party became hugely unpopular after Khan's removal when Nawaz Sharif's brother Shehbaz Sharif replaced Khan, a former cricketer turned politician.
Messenger/Sun Yath
