The former Pakistan PM’s political re-entry won’t alter the reality that the army will have a chokehold on any government formed post-2024 polls, even if Sharif leads the new regime
Nawaz Sharif’s arrival in Lahore on October 21 adds colour to Pakistan’s political landscape, but may not substantially alter it. Nawaz returned four years after he left Adiala jail for four weeks of medical treatment in London, leaving incomplete jail sentences in two corruption cases. Much water has flown down the Ravi since the army booted him out as PM in 2017. His home country has seen five PMs after him. His junior party colleague Shahid Abbasi, who replaced him in 2017, gave way to a caretaker PM, before the army ushered in Imran Khan in fixed elections in 2018.
When Imran fell out with Pakistan’s army, he was replaced in April 2022 by a coalition led by Nawaz’s brother Shehbaz Sharif, who himself gave way to a caretaker setup in August 2023, headed by an army plant, Anwarul Kakar, mandated to take the country towards elections expected in early 2024.
When Imran fell out with Pakistan’s army, he was replaced in April 2022 by a coalition led by Nawaz’s brother Shehbaz Sharif, who himself gave way to a caretaker setup in August 2023, headed by an army plant, Anwarul Kakar, mandated to take the country towards elections expected in early 2024.