APakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) meeting in London set the ball rolling for a landmark bill whose passage has paved the way for party leader Nawaz Sharif to potentially contest elections and return as the Prime Minister for the fourth time.
Pakistan’s National Assembly on Sunday passed the bill to limit the lifetime disqualification of lawmakers to five years, freeing Nawaz Sharif to return from London to resume active politics ahead of Pakistan general elections this year. Sharif, 73, was disqualified for life in 2017 by the Supreme Court and later convicted in corruption cases by the accountability courts.
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News18 had earlier reported how the legislation was proposed at a PML-N meeting in London last week when Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met his brother and former premier Nawaz Sharif. Two important discussions that took place at the meeting were Nawaz Sharif’s comeback in Pakistan’s electoral politics and a strategic move like a legislation to undo his disqualification.
In 2018, the three-time former premier became ineligible to hold public office for life after a Supreme Court verdict in the Panama Papers case.
The legislation — Elections (Amendment) Bill 2023 — apart from reducing the period of disqualification, also aims to empower the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to announce election dates unilaterally without having to consult the president.
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On the time period of disqualification for lawmakers, the bill included an amendment to Section 232 (Disqualification on account of offences) of the Election Act, 2017. The bill was already approved by the Senate on June 16.
The amendments also empower the ECP to announce election dates unilaterally without having to consult the president. To become a law, the bill should be endorsed by the president. With Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-backed President Arif Alvi out of the country to perform Hajj, Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani has taken charge as the acting president and possibly he would endorse the bill without wasting any time, reported Geo News.
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It is believed that after becoming the law, the lifelong disqualification of Sharif would end, paving the way for his return to the country and rejoin active politics ahead of general elections, likely in October. But before joining active politics, Sharif would still need to get decisions of two anti-corruption cases against him overturned.
Nawaz Sharif has been living in self-exile in the United Kingdom since November 2019. Before his departure to London on a four-wheel bail by the Lahore High Court on medical grounds, Sharif was serving a seven-year jail term in the Al-Azizia Mills corruption case.
With PTI inputs
