Pakistan: What will Nawaz Sharif do now?

Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is now spending his “relaxed days” the in hill city of Murree, a few kilometres away from Islamabad. However, he now has plans to move to his home province Punjab and finally settle down at his home in Raiwind, near Lahore.

Sharif is restricted from active politics as he has been disqualified on the basis that he doesn’t stand “Sadiq and Amin” (honest and righteous), which means that he is also unfit to hold any public office. However, the Article 62 (f), under which Sharif was disqualified, is still seen as controversial, and two major political parties, PML-N and PPP along with their allies refuse to accept interpretations of Article 62 and 63 of Pakistan’s Constitution.

Taking advantage of the confusion, Nawaz Sharif who is still the PML-N leader, has pledged to continue his role in the party and is determined to lead the next strategy of the party in his capacity as the founder-leader.

Sharif now plans to launch a massive political campaign in Punjab from next week, according to a report published in an Urdu daily Nai Baat.

PML-N sources said that Sharif had earlier considered leading a rally from Islamabad to Lahore by road, but due to security reasons it was decided that Sharif would now fly back to Lahore from Islamabad and not go by road.

Maryam Nawaz Sharif in her tweets had also said that Sharif will now rule the hearts of the people. “Prime Minister or not the Prime Minister, his love resides in the hearts.”

Meanwhile, PML-N leader and former minister for Railways, Khawaja Saad Rafique also said that, “Nawaz Sharif will now lead the nation from his home city.”

It is believed that with Sharif leading PML-N from Punjab the ruling party will receive a major boost and may be able to counter the rising opposition. PML-N will face a serious challenge from PTI in the NA-120 seat which is due for bye-election on September 17 after the seat was vacated by Sharif. PTI’s Dr. Yasmeen Rashid is considered a strong candidate for the constituency.

NAB has decided to file references against him, his two sons, daughter and son-in-law, as well as the former finance minister. “The meeting was held in compliance of the honourable Supreme Court’s judgement dated July 28, 2017 regarding the Panama [Papers] case. It was decided to file four references in the accountability courts of Islamabad/Rawalpindi in the stipulated time period of six weeks from the date of judgement,” said a statement by NAB.However, Sharif still faces a tough time ahead as new scandals and cases are expected to surface since the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has already taken up the leads given by Joint Investigation Team (JIT) members in their recent investigation against the Sharif family.

If Sharif is barred from taking part in active politics, and holding office even within the party, he may have to return to running his huge business and industrial empire in Pakistan and other countries.

source: GULF NEWS