Pakistan’s Islamabad High Court has granted former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif protective bail. The bail provides an immediate buffer protecting Sharif from arrest until he appears before the court on October 24.
Sharif, a three-time former leader, was removed from power and subsequently sentenced to a 14-year prison term over corruption charges in 2017 and 2018 respectively. Although a court’s ruling allowed him to travel to London for medical treatment, Sharif was declared an absconder when he did not return to Pakistan to serve his jail term.
Presumably returning to appeal his sentence, Sharif will strive to overturn his convictions, making himself eligible again for the general election. Sharif’s lawyer, Azam Nazeer Tarar, maintained that everyone has the constitutional right to freely engage in political activities, confirming that Sharif plans to rally in Lahore after his arrival.
Expressing visible support for the former Prime Minister, Sharif’s younger brother, Shehbaz Sharif, responded positively on X (formerly known as Twitter), to the news of his brother’s protective bail. Shehbaz Sharif, acting as the current president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN), was elected as prime minister after Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government was dissolved and he lost a no-confidence vote in April 2022. Following these events, however, he too was removed as prime minister due to corruption allegations in 2022.
This series of events has led to the presence of a caretaker government in Pakistan, established by the PMLN, a party founded by Nawaz Sharif himself in 1993.