Nawaz Sharif returning to Pakistan in September, says Javed Latif

Former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supreme leader Nawaz Sharif will return to the country in September, federal minister Javed Latif revealed on Monday.

Speaking to a press conference in Lahore alongside party’s spokesperson Azma Bukhari, Latif said that the people of Pakistan are wishing for the return of the former prime minister.

Referring to Nawaz’s supporters as “doctors”, Latif said that “the people are his doctors and doctors change their opinion with time”.

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The PML-N leader also said that he wouldn’t allow the party supremo to go behind bars after his return.

Latif went on to allege that Nawaz was ousted from the premiership on former chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar’s orders.

He also lambasted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan, saying his “strings are still being pulled by some people", adding that Khan would have stayed in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa if he hadn’t gotten the support of those who facilitated his rise to power.

Latif’s statement comes only a day after Khan claimed in his Lahore power show that a plan was in the works to disqualify him in the Toshakhana and prohibited funding case and bring Nawaz back in the picture.

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Nawaz was sentenced in 2018, to a total of 11 years of imprisonment and was issued Rs1.3 billion fine in Al-Azizia Steel Mills and Avenfield properties references.

His sentence was suspended in 2019 by the Lahore High Court on medical grounds and he was permitted to fly to London to seek treatment, after which he did not return.

He is expected to return ahead of the general elections in Pakistan.