Daily Times

Former prime minister Mian Nawaz Sharif returned to Lahore on July 13, with Maryam Nawaz. The father-daughter duo was taken into customer and place on another aircraft to Islamabad. They are currently being held in Adiala Jail. In the past, the same jail has hosted former prime ministers Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain.

Nawaz has been sentenced to 10 years in prison, while Maryam has been given 7 years of jail time, because of the Avenfield verdict. This is the second conviction that has been handed over to Nawaz, who was also sentenced in 1999 under Pervez Musharraf’s rule.

The Pakistan Muslim League — Nawaz (PML-N) ruler has been a part of the political arena for about three and a half decades. He ventured into politics in 1974 from the Tehrik-e-Istiqlal platform, launched by Air Marshal Muhammad Asghar Khan.

Nawaz Sharif also served as the finance minister of Punjab in 1981 before he served two terms one after the other as chief minister Punjab from April 1985 to May 1988 and from December 1988 to August 1990,till the Provincial Assembly was dissolved by the governor following dissolution of the National Assembly by the then President Ghulam Ishaq Khan. Khan’s move was a result of political crisis -a confrontation between Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)’s prime minister Benazir Bhutto and then CM Nawaz Sharif.

Nawaz Sharif contested the general election held on October 24, 1990, from the platform of Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) and took oath as the prime minister for his first term in November 1990.

On becoming the prime minister for the first time in November 1990, Nawaz Sharif paid a visit to his home town Lahore after some days and announced that he will be addressing the people at Laxmi Chowk.

Even two hours after the event was to start, not even a 100 people showed up to hear what he had to say. He did spend some time talking to the media.

During his first term, he used to visit Lahore every weekend. From the airport, he used to drive to the Bagh-e-Jinnah cricket ground, and play till he was out,and then drive back. The score on such occasions was manipulated by two journalists from leading Urdu dailies, and published next morning in all Urdu and English dailies.

PML-N staged a comeback and won the 2013 elections. Like the previous two terms, Nawaz’s rule was cut short, this time after four years and two months. He was disqualified by the Supreme Court of Pakistan because of the Panama Papers — a verdict he has not accepted so far

His arrival and departure was always private and none else but the then Chief Secretary Parvez Masood and IGP Rana Maqbool Ahmad were allowed to be present. Not even the then Punjab governor Mian Muhammad Azhar was allowed to be present at the airport.

The coverage of PM Nawaz’s arrival in Lahore and engagements was pretty difficult for radio and newspaper reporters as all his engagements were conveyed to only two cameramen of state TV directly from Islamabad. Press Information Department (PID) officials in most cases were also kept in the dark.

After the death of Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-i-Azam) President Muhammad Khan Junejo’s death, Nawaz Sharif, while attending the party’s meeting asked the members to elect him as the new president. Junejo’s loyalist Hamid Nasir Chatha got annoyed over this development and left the meeting with his followers, which created room for Nawaz to build his own faction of the League, and become president.

Nawaz Sharif was ousted from the office on April 18, 1993, after a period of more than two years and five months by president Ghulam Ishaq Khan. He approached the Supreme Court against his removal and was reinstated on May 26, 1993.

Accordingly, as per arrangement, president Ghulam Ishaq Khan and Nawaz Sharif simultaneously resigned from their respective offices on July 18, 1993. And that was how Nawaz Sharif’s first extended term ended.

In the general election held in February 1997, Nawaz Sharif took oath as prime minister for a second term. The term was curtailed after two years, seven months and 23 days when suddenly he decided to remove chairman joint chiefs of staff committee and chief of army staff general Pervez Musharraf out of the blue, replacing him with then ISI chief general Ziauddin Butt on October 12, 1999. Things had not proceeded as he had thought.

He was arrested, convicted and put into Attock Jail, from where he along with his family members fled to Jeddah to live there in exile for 10 years as guests of the Royal Saudi family.

Following developments taking place back home and the promulgation of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), Nawaz Sharif returned home towards the later part of 2007 to contest elections. The polls were postponed due to Benazir Bhutto’s martyrdom on December 27, and held in the first quarter of 2008. Nawaz did not manage to sweep the polls.

During the negotiations held between PPP and PML-N the ban on any person holding the office of prime minister no more than two times was removed, making it possible for Sharif to become prime minister a third time. He took the throne then, and he aims to do it a fourth time, verdicts be damned

During the negotiations held between Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League — Nawaz (PML-N) the ban on any person holding the office of prime minister no more than two times was removed and making it possible for Sharif to become prime minister a third time.

PML-N staged a comeback and won the 2013 election and accordingly Nawaz took the throne for a third time in June 2013. Like the previous two terms, this term was cut short after four years and two months when he was disqualified by the Supreme Court of Pakistan because of the Panama Papers- a verdict he has not accepted so far. Subsequently, he was also removed from president-ship of PML- Nand replaced by Shehbaz Sharif.

What remains of his story is yet to be seen, as the former prime minister is still busy writing the next chapters. All we can do is wait and watch.

The writer is Lahore-based freelance journalist, columnist and retired Deputy Controller (News) Islamabad and can be reached at zahidriffat@gmail.com

Published in Daily Times, July 22^nd 2018.