PM forms legal team for Nawaz Sharif’s return

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif has constituted a legal team to finalise nitty-gritty details for the return of Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) Supremo and three-time former premier Nawaz Sharif from London to Pakistan.

Sources revealed that the legal team, headed by Federal Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar includs PM’s Special Assistant Ataullah Tarar and senior lawyer of the Supreme Court, Irfan Qadir

The legal team will take up cases that led to the Sharif’s disqualification and address the legal hindrances in the way of Sharif’s return to the country.

The development came after the National Assembly (NA), on Sunday, passed a bill to amend the Election Act 2017 that limits the disqualification of lawmakers to five years under the Article 62 (1)(f) instead of a lifetime.

The Election Act Amendment Bill has also enables the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to announce the schedule for general elections without consulting the president.

Meanwhile, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, who assumed the role of acting president following President Dr. Arif Alvi’s departure for Hajj on Sunday, is anticipated to endorse the bill soon which would transform it into law.

Sharif, 73, was disqualified in 2017 by the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan from the post of the country’s Prime Minister while in 2018, he was declared ineligible to hold public office for life in Panama papers case verdict.

The three-time former PM has been living in self-imposed exile in the United Kingdom since November 2019.

From the looks of it, the Election Act Amendment Bill will not only pave way for Sharif’s return to the country, but also active politics at a juncture when the government is mulling announcing the next general elections in the country.