ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistan Prime Minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif landed at Islamabad airport as he returned to Pakistan after four years of exile in London.
In a post on X, PML-N posted, “Umeed e Pakistan has landed in Islamabad Alhumdulillah. NAWAZ SHARIF IS BACK IN HIS HOMELAND”.
According to The Dawn News, the PML-N supremo’s legal team, including former law minister Senator Azam Tarar and party leaders, were present at the airport to receive him.
Tarar said Nawaz will be consulted on political and legal issues upon his arrival. He confirmed that the court staff also reached the airport and now “the legal process of security guarantee will be completed”, Dawn News reported.
Earlier today, PML-N informed that Nawaz Sharif has arrived at the Dubai airport and will take a chartered flight to Islamabad. In a post on X, PML-N said, “Quaid PMLN, Muhammad Nawaz Sharif reaches Dubai airport to board the ‘Umeed-e-Pakistan’ flight for his historic journey back to Pakistan. Daikho daikho kon aaya!!”
As Nawaz Sharif arrived at the Dubai airport, he said, “Today, I am going to Pakistan after four years and I am feeling very happy with the grace of Allah. It would be great if the situation in Pakistan was better today than it was in 2017”. On board the special plane, workers of the PML-N cheered on the party supremo with slogans of “Nawaz Sharif for Prime Minister again.
Earlier, Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) had given permission to a special plane booked to carry PML-N supremo to land in the country upon its arrival, ARY News reported. The notification stated that the chartered plane would depart for Islamabad from Dubai and land at the Islamabad International Airport. After staying at the Islamabad airport for two hours, Sharif will depart for Lahore, ARY News reported on Saturday.
The PML-N party has prepared a grand welcome for the former PM. Several party leaders and workers have converged in Lahore from all across Pakistan for the party’s grand power show. The PML-N had also booked multiple special trains to ensure that its supporters are able to attend the Minar-e-Pakistan rally, Geo News reported.
The last term of Nawaz, who came to power riding on a triumphant victory in 2013, was scarred by upheavals. It started with the then opposition-led months-long blockade of Islamabad and ended with his disqualification by the Supreme Court in 2017. The court ruling followed months of hearings in a case instigated by the Panama Papers leaks, related to alleged corruption during his previous two terms in office.
Looking at the timeline of cases against Nawaz Sharif, on July 6, 2018, he was sentenced to 10 years in jail upon conviction in the Avenfield reference along with a fine of 8 million Euros (Pakistani rupees 1.3 billion).The former PM was convicted in absentia as he was in London at that time to look after his ailing wife, as per Geo News.
On July 13, Nawaz and his daughter Maryam Nawaz, who is currently PML-N’s vice-president and chief organiser, were arrested upon their arrival in Lahore from London. After approaching the Islamabad High Court, the Sharifs got major relief as the IHC ordered the release of Nawaz, Maryam and Captain Muhammad Safdar while temporarily suspending the sentences awarded to them, Geo News reported.
However, the relief was short-lived, as in December of the same year, after National Accountability Bureau (NAB) awarded Nawaz a seven-year jail term and a fine of PKR 1.5 billion in the Al-Azizia sugar mills reference. (ANI)