In October, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif returned to Pakistan after four years of self-imposed exile in London. The Islamabad High Court, which had earlier declared him an “absconder” in corruption cases and issued his arrest warrants, readily provided him protective bail before his arrival. Last week, an anti-corruption court ordered the return of his seized assets. His return and the instant judicial reprieve he received are clear signs that he has the blessings of the army, which retains the veto on who is in and out of politics.
To his party and its supporters, Sharif’s respite is simply the long-due correction of the mistreatment he had to endure since 2017 when he was removed from power in a military-backed “judicial coup” after which he was sentenced to 14 years in prison on politically motivated graft charges.
To his detractors, Sharif is just another compromised politician, who used his medical condition to get out of jail and seek refuge in London and has now struck a deal with the generals for his political resurrection ahead of the parliamentary elections scheduled for February next year.