Nawaz Sharif, the leader of the PML-N, is finally scheduled to return to Pakistan next month after living in self-exile in London for the past four years. It’s good to hear this.
This publication has often urged Mr. Sharif to return, face political and legal realities, and stop managing his party remotely — both when the PML-N was in opposition and later while it was in power.
The second-tier leadership of his party, who has spent the past year making far too many journeys to London to seek Mr. Sharif’s guidance on various matters, will be relieved that he is now prepared to return to the nation and interact with his party and followers in person. But Mr. Sharif is going back to a nation that is very different from the one he left in 2019. Businesses are losing confidence quickly and the economy is in an unprecedented turmoil. Bills for food and power are unpayable by households.
There are no easy solutions to the nation’s problems, and the government is not bringing in enough money to deal with any of these major issues. Additionally on the rise is terrorism. The country’s human rights situation is terrible. And the political field is as constrained as ever.
What message would Mr. Sharif convey to his supporters in this dire situation? How will he explain the performance of the PML-N-led PDM administration during the previous 16 months? What message would Mr. Sharif convey to his supporters in this dire situation? How will he explain the performance of the PML-N-led PDM administration during the previous 16 months?
He has been forced out of politics, but Imran Khan still has a sizable fan base. How does he intend to combat this? What matters is how Mr. Sharif will defend himself legally in the court cases brought against him.
Members of the elder Sharif’s party have frequently connected his homecoming to the timing of the nation’s general elections. Now that he is back, he must call for quick elections and then face the judgement of a people that is upset and demoralised by numerous financial hardships.
Several months after the PDM administration took office, Even though Mr. Sharif’s major adversary has temporarily left the political scene, the PML-N’s battered support is still an issue. It is unclear how he can inspire his party and win over people, but his party appears to believe that the ‘Nawaz Sharif effect’ will have some beneficial effects on its own.
Mr. Sharif will have to justify his four-year absence from the country, as well as what his party intends to do to address the significant domestic issues the nation is currently dealing with, when he returns.
