ISLAMABAD: Former finance minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) stalwart Ishaq Dar on Saturday said Nawaz Sharif does not plan to leave Pakistan again after return.
Speaking to a private TV, the PML-N leader however clarified that he would make trips abroad if need be.
The three-time premier arrived earlier today in the federal capital, marking an end to his self-imposed four-year exile. Nawaz will hold a rally today at Minar-e-Pakistan after Maghrib prayers.
Dar further stated that Nawaz has an economic recovery plan ready. “If the people elect Nawaz Sharif again, He has an economic plan for the relief of the people. The last 16 months were not for economic recovery, but to save Pakistan from default,” he clarified, adding that their government prevented Pakistan from the same fate that Sri Lanka had to endure following economic collapse.
Dar continued that cases against Nawaz are now open, there was a “Panama drama” earlier and yet nothing has been proved in either cases to date. “Nawaz Sharif will be red in the cases against him. Maryam Nawaz has been acquitted,” he stated.
Elaborating on Nawaz’s departure four years ago, Dar maintained that the PML-N supremo had gone for medical treatment and records for the same exist. “Nawaz Sharif has not returned to Pakistan to leave again,” he said.
Earlier this week, Nawaz secured crucial bail, removing the threat of arrest upon return, as per his lawyer.
After nearly four years in the United Kingdom, the former prime minister, who served the country three times, is hoping to lead his party through the general elections scheduled for January next year.
Lawyer Azam Nazeer Tarar told reporters that Nawaz had been granted protective bail, under which authorities could not arrest him until he himself appears before a court on Oct 24, adding that he would address a rally in Lahore upon his return.
The Islamabad High Court’s decision to grant protective bail till Oct 24 in the Avenfield and Al-Aziza cases cleared the way for him to return to his political heartland of Lahore on Saturday for a welcome home rally.
Moreover, an accountability court suspended the perpetual non-bailable arrest warrants issued for his arrest in the Toshakhana gifts case, slated for October 21. The trial court suspended the arrest warrant till October 24 and restrained the authorities from detaining Nawaz at the airport.
Nawaz was convicted in the Al-Azizia and the Avenfield corruption references by an accountability court on July 6, 2018. He was awarded 10 years imprisonment. In October 2019, the IHC granted him bail on humanitarian grounds and he went to London for medical treatment.
However, after failing to return to Pakistan and as his bail expired, the IHC declared him a proclaimed offender and absconder.
