That PML(N) Quaid Main Nawaz Sharif will arrive on October 21 is now increasingly certain, with only an act of God likely to stop him. However, what happens to him when he arrives is by no means certain. After all, when he left he was a convict given unusual bail so that he could seek treatment abroad. Now that he is returning, all that seems to have changed is that he has now recovered his health. His legal team has confidently asserted that he will land and then go to his Jati Umra residence. However, that team has not undertaken any of the activities that would reach that end, likely filing a basil petition in a high court or asn application or two to either the trial court or the jail authorities. It therefore means that Mian Nawaz is depending on the good will of the establishment. This has not availed him in the past always. On one occasion, he was sent back without being let off the plane. That is probably off the table, but what isnât is that he was arrested off the plane just before the last election. Suddenly, there is the prospect of the election taking place without his presence. It will not be much of an election if he and PTI chief Imran Khan are both unable to campaign because both are behind bars.
Another problem Mr Sharif faces is that his election narrative, calling for the trial of all those, including then COAS Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, who were responsible for toppling him and bringing Mr Khan in, has been killed at the draft stage. It is thought that the only obstacle to his return is that narrative, which has thus been buried as hastily as hesitantly it was put forward. It will thus be very important what exactly Mr Sharif intends to use for his election narrative, and he will probably make this apparent by his statements in the first few days after his arrival. Those who, including himself, thought he was being allowed home so that he could take the reins of power in his hands, must have realized even before he began his journey, that there will always been many a slip between cup and lip.
