Nawaz Sharif will go to jail upon return, says Aitzaz Ahsan

ISLAMABAD: Senior leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Aitzaz Ahsan said that Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) Supremo Nawaz Sharif is poised go to face imprisonment upon his return to the country.

The statement came during the programme Upfront with Mona Alam on HUM News, when host Alam asked Ahsan regarding the legal hurdles Sharif will encounter following his comeback from exile.

In response, Aitzaz Ahsan said if Sharif were to be dealt within the confines of the law and constitution, it must not be overlooked that he was a convicted “absconding” criminal serving a seven-year sentence.

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He further stated that when a criminal is found guilty, their entitlement to a defence diminishes. He remarked that Sharif’s course would ultimately result in his imprisonment, and pointed out that the possibility of obtaining pre-arrest bail would not be open to him.

“Even if the alleged crime was yet to be proven, Sharif’s situation would have been more manageable. However, his conviction has narrowed his room to maneuver within the legal system,” the senior leader said.

Aitzaz Ahsan underlined that Sharif’s return would necessitate his submission to the law. “He has to submit to the court, and then it’s up to the court to reinstate his rights or not,” Ahsan added.

Furthermore, he added that Sharif’s exile, although a self-imposed exile, has positioned him in a way that he appeared to have a continued impact in the nation’s political landscape. He said: “It’s as if he is still strategically placed within the core of nation’s political discourse.”

Nawaz Sharif in exile

Nawaz 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 Nawaz’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.