Shehbaz affirms Nawaz Sharif to become PM for fourth time

Pakistan’s former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday reaffirmed that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif will become the prime minister for a record fourth time.

The now 74-year-old leader first took power in 1990 but was forced out three years later by corruption allegations — a theme that has dogged his career.

He came to power for the second time in 1997 and held the prime minister’s post till 1999 when he was deposed in a military coup after plotting to sideline army chief of staff Pervez Musharraf.

More than a decade later he was back in power in 2013, but fresh graft allegations emerged when his children were named in the 2016 Panama Papers leak for holding offshore companies.

He was later convicted over separate corruption allegations and disqualified from office for life-the third time that he failed to complete a full term.

“I still stand by my words that Nawaz Sharif will become prime minister for the fourth time,” Dawn News quoted Shehbaz Sharif, the three-time former prime minister’s younger brother, as saying at a press conference.

Talking about the allegation of rigging in the recently concluded February 8 polls, Shehbaz said that in several areas PML-N stalwarts lost and independents won.

“In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the majority is of independent candidates […] does it mean they won through rigging? And in Sindh and Balochistan, there was no sign of independents,” he said.

“On behalf of my party, independents are free, if they want to make a government, go ahead. We will sit in the opposition and fulfill our role,” Shehbaz said.

The PML-N President further said that after the party lost in 2018, it did not abuse anyone or hold any sit-ins.

“We went to Parliament with black armbands […] who doesn’t know that the election was stolen? We didn’t say we would set Parliament on fire or give the nation a message of civil disobedience.” Shehbaz said the next phase had begun after the polls and emphasised: “If they call themselves PTI-sponsored or non-PTI-sponsored-if they can form a government then they should. The president will not give them an invitation.”

If they can show the majority [in the Assembly] then we will gladly sit in the opposition benches and play the constitutional role. If they cannot make a government, then obviously other political parties will decide with consensus and field a candidate.