PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, daughter Maryam could return to Pakistan

Islamabad: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz are considering returning from London soon, media reports said on Saturday, days after being jolted by ousted prime minister Imran Khan’s manoeuvring in the politically crucial Punjab province.

The PML-N-led federal government was unable to stop Khan’s ally and Punjab province Chief Minister Parvez Elahi from taking a vote of confidence in the Punjab Assembly, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.

On Thursday, Elahi signed the order for the dissolution of the provincial assembly.

“I Parvez Elahi, chief minister of Punjab, hereby advise you to dissolve the provincial assembly,” he said in a brief one-line advice addressed to Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman, according to the Dawn newspaper.

This comes after Elahi proved his majority in the provincial assembly, winning the confidence vote on Thursday, after weeks of political turbulence in Pakistan’s most populous province.

Both Sharif and Maryam, who were earlier planning to return to Pakistan in mid-February, are now reconsidering their plan and may return to the country at the earliest, after being jolted by Khan’s political manoeuvring, according to The News.

A Sharif family source told Geo TV that the father-daughter duo would be returning from London within 10 days.

Khan's deft political move has considerably shrunk PML-N's position in Punjab province, which has been the party's stronghold for decades.

Sharif, 73, has been living in self-imposed exile in the UK since 2019.

Former prime minister Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government cancelled his diplomatic passport after being declared a proclaimed offender by a Pakistani court on corruption charges.

In November last year, Sharif, the three-time former prime minister, was given a diplomatic passport by the PMN-L party-led federal government last year.

In October last year, Maryam left Pakistan for London to unite with her father after her name was removed from the no-fly list after three years.

Former prime minister Khan has been demanding fresh elections after he was ousted from power in April last year.

The term of the current National Assembly will end in August 2023.