Punjab Minister for Information Fayyaz ul Hassan Chohan had earlier this month said that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif should get ready to be disqualified from politics if former prime minister Nawaz Sharif does not return to the country to face courts.
“Nawaz is neither undergoing medical treatment nor admitted to a hospital. He has been on vacation for 10 months and was seen without a face mask amid coronavirus at a London cafe,” Chohan had told a press conference. Former premier Sharif was allowed to travel abroad by the courts for medical treatment last year after his health deteriorated in prison.
However, legal experts have cast doubt over the claims of Chohan, saying that although Shehbaz could be asked to explain the absence of his brother in Pakistan through medical reports, it is not likely that the cases involving the elder Sharif would influence the outcome of cases against the younger Sharif.
'Shehbaz Sharif should get ready to be disqualified if Nawaz Sharif doesn't return' https://t.co/EnD3WMMRcj
— Balochistan Express (@baluchexpress) August 26, 2020
The minister, in his press conference, had added that Shehbaz went back on his word by lying about Nawaz’s return. “The whole world knows that Shehbaz had guaranteed his elder brother’s return once his treatment was over,” he said.
Earlier on Saturday, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar said that former premier Nawaz Sharif had left the country for treatment on certain conditions and that none of these had been fulfilled.
Read More: Does the government really want to bring Nawaz Sharif back to Pakistan?
NAB has already filed an appeal in the Islamabad High Court for Nawaz’s seven-year imprisonment sentence in the Al Azizia Steel Mills case to be extended to 14 years. The case will be heard by Justices Amir Farooq and Mohsin Akhtar Kayani on September 1.
Some analysts are of the view that the western states have complex legal systems where anybody associated with politics cannot be arrested and sent back to their native country, with some notable exceptions. Nawaz, a three-time prime minister, falls under that category and will likely be able to live on in London for as long as he wants.