Former Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif lands in Islamabad after 4 years in self-imposed exile

Former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif returned home on Saturday on a special flight after four years in self-imposed exile in London.

The 73-year-old Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo flew in from Dubai to Islamabad on the chartered flight “Umeed-e-Pakistan” along with some family members, senior party leaders and friends.

Sharif is expected to address a massive homecoming rally in Lahore later Saturday and his return comes as Pakistan experiences deepening political turmoil and one of its worst economic crises.

Speaking to reporters before leaving for Islamabad from Dubai, he said he wished the situation in the country had improved in his absence. He left Pakistan in 2019, two years after he stepped down after being convicted in a graft case, reported The Associated Press.

The former Pakistan PM is also facing multiple legal challenges. In 2020, an anti-graft court in Islamabad issued a warrant for his arrest after he failed to return home. The same court on Thursday suspended that arrest warrant until October 24. Another federal court has granted Sharif bail until October 24, giving him protection from arrest until then.

Sharif was convicted in 2018 and sentenced to 10 years in prison in a corruption case involving purchases of luxury apartments in London. His party became hugely unpopular after Imran Khan’s removal when Nawaz Sharif’s brother Shehbaz Sharif replaced Khan.

With inputs from agencies