Daily Times

Senior Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Syed Khursheed Shah on Sunday said that it is unlikely that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif will return to Pakistan in October.

Talking to a private news channel, Khursheed Shah, who served as the federal minister for water resources in the previous coalition government led by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), said that former premier Shehbaz Sharif may say that Nawaz will be returning in October but “I say that his [Nawaz’s] health is not good”. “Nawaz’s health may deteriorate at the last minute,” he said.

Nawaz has been residing in the United Kingdom since November 2019, when he went there for medical treatment following his conviction in a corruption case.

He has not returned since and faces multiple cases in Pakistan. He was deemed an absconder the following February. Later in 2020, courts declared him as a proclaimed offender. Media reports have been speculating since October last year that Nawaz is to return soon. His daughter and PML-N Vice Organiser Maryam Nawaz stated the same in a public address in January this year.

Regarding electricity bills, Shah said that the incumbent caretaker government can reduce rates by Rs15 per unit.

The PPP leader said that the former Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) coalition government, which his party was central to, was advised to reduce rates by Rs4 per unit but it could not be done.

The current government, led by Interim Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar, has room to reduce bills by Rs15 per unit, he added. Earlier this week, the caretaker government proposed a potential increase of Rs3.55 per unit in power tariff as opposed to Rs5.40 per unit increment requested by the Central Power Purchasing Company (CPPA)-G.

Meanwhile, widespread protests have erupted across the nation against inflated power bills and increasing cost of electricity amid soaring inflation.

Traders’ associations, citizens and political parties alike have decried the hefty rise in power tariffs and inclusion of excessive taxes in electricity bills.

On Saturday, Interim PM Kakar was forced to call an emergency meeting to quell the brewing storm. The incumbent government also decided to revoke the provision of free electricity to grade-17 and higher-ranking officers.