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Pakistan’s former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has returned from exile in a bid to regain power by uniting the opposition to his jailed rival Imran Khan ahead of elections which are expected early next year.
The three-time leader was greeted by several thousand supporters at a gathering of his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party in central Lahore, but analysts said his bid for power faced major challenges, notably the fallout from a fragile economy.
Sharif was found guilty of corruption in 2018, sentenced to 10 years in prison and disqualified from holding public office. The following year he was granted bail to travel to London for medical treatment and did not return.
In an impassioned speech on Saturday, the 73-year-old said that if he had not been removed from power, “not a single person would have been unemployed, there would be nothing like poverty. But today, conditions are so bad that one has to think if they can feed their children or pay electricity bills”.
After his ousting Imran Khan took over as prime minister. He in turn was ousted in a vote of no confidence last year by a coalition government led by Sharif’s younger brother Shehbaz.
Shehbaz Sharif ran the country until August this year. It is now being run by caretaker prime minister Anwar ul-Haq Kakar, a little-known figure from the volatile western Balochistan province, until the elections take place.
During Shehbaz Sharif’s term the economy was hit hard, with annual inflation running at over 30 per cent and a steep devaluation of the rupee.
“Their performance on the economy will present Nawaz Sharif’s party with their biggest challenge,” said one Pakistani businessman who did not want to be named.
Sharif has filed appeals against the convictions which bar him from office.
Pakistan has been ruled by the army for almost half of its 75 years of existence, since it gained independence from the British Raj. Analysts warned that it faced a period of turbulence if the outcome of the elections were to be disputed.
Moonis Ahmar, a retired political scientist formerly at the University of Karachi, said Sharif’s return appeared to have been “facilitated”. This could “pose a challenge” to him in the run-up to the elections, he added: “If the popular view is that there is no level playing field, people will reject the results.”
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf party has been severely weakened since his loyalists stormed government installations including army premises after he was briefly arrested in May this year. Several other PTI leaders were also arrested and many subsequently withdrew their support for Khan.
In August Khan was sentenced to three years in jail over allegations that he had profited from the sale of gifts that he received while in office.
The PTI has decried the conviction as a politically motivated ploy to prevent Khan from leading the party in the next elections.
