Shehbaz Sharif urges brother Nawaz to return from London to lead Pakistan

PAKISTAN Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has urged his elder brother and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief to return from London to lead the party and the country.

Addressing a meeting of the central general council meeting of the party on Friday (16) where he was re-elected as the president of the PML-N, Shehbaz indicated that Nawaz would return to the country soon, Geo News reported on Saturday (17).

"I am waiting for my elder brother - who has been in self-imposed exile in London since November 2019 owing to health reasons - to return to Pakistan," he said during the meeting.

The party presidency could be handed back to Nawaz once he returned, the prime minister said.

Nawaz, 73, has been living in London since November 2019 for medical treatment after a Pakistani court allowed him a four-week reprieve.

Nawaz, who has served as the prime minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms, was serving seven-year imprisonment in the Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore in the Al-Azizia corruption case before he left for London.

Shehbaz said a meeting of the central general council was held as the Election Commission's sword was hanging.

Shehbaz was given the PML-N's presidency after Nawaz, the three-time prime minister - was disqualified by the Supreme Court which barred him from holding any party position.

During the meeting, Shehbaz said the PML-N needed young leadership and commended Nawaz's daughter and the party's 49-year-old senior vice-president Maryam Nawaz for her hard work.

"You will see that the map of politics will change when Nawaz Sharif returns to Pakistan," Shehbaz said.

The prime minister reminded the party’s workers that his government took charge at a time when they did not get roses but brickbats.

“Inflation has broken the back of the people; oil prices are touching the sky. The coalition government decided together that we would face the tough times,” he said, adding that in the budget, the government increased the salaries of employees and pensions.