Pakistan: Nawaz returning, PM Shehbaz Sharif promises to ‘hand over’ power next month
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Stating that his coalition government ‘sacrificed politics to protect the state,’ Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, the 23rd Prime Minister of Pakistan, has promised to hand over power to the “caretaker set-up” once the current term of the National Assembly ends in August, the media reported on Friday.
His statement came amid reports that his elder brother and three-time PM, Nawaz Sharif, who is in self-exile in London since 2018, may return soon to Pakistan as the courts have cleared some of the cases against him. Nawaz might lead his party, Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) in the forthcoming elections.
Even otherwise, the Sharifs are the current First Family in Pakistan. Besides Shehbaz as PM, Nawaz’s daughter Mariam is seen as the power behind her uncle’s throne. Also, Nawaz’s close relative Ishaq Dar is the Finance Minister of Pakistan.
Shehbaz’s statement on national media came amid continuing political turmoil and financial crisis, despite a fresh breather from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) this week. Nawaz’s return might improve the chances of the PML(N)’s victory.
However, Shehbaz did not clarify whether his coalition partners would go for the normal dissolution of the National Assembly (NA) on completion of its term on August 12 or he would advise the President for an early dissolution.
The five-year term of the NA commenced under the then-PTI government on August 12, 2018, and will be completed under a Shehbaz-led ruling coalition following the ouster of former PM Imran Khan through a no-confidence vote in April last year.
At the outset of an address, broadcast on television, PM Sharif said he was given the “sacred responsibility” of running the country and “working for its welfare” in April 2022.
“We will hand over this responsibility to the caretaker set-up in August 2023,” the Dawn quoted Sharif as saying.
He claimed that the incumbent government, in a brief tenure of 15 months, cleaned the “rubble of destruction”, which he said was a “work of the PTI” over the last four years.
PM Sharif added that during the past few months, his government “sacrificed politics to protect the state.”
On Wednesday also, Shehbaz Sharif said the coalition government’s tenure will end on August 14 and the date for the next polls will be announced by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) either in “October or November”, Geo News reported.
He added, “Whosoever forms the next government after elections, their top priority should be education so they can make this nation great.”
Earlier, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said the provincial assemblies could be dissolved earlier than the scheduled date of August 13 to “facilitate” the ECP.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), led by former PM Imran Khan, has also been demanding the elections at their stipulated time as it is eyeing’ victory’ in the upcoming polls, Geo News reported.
The government remains under tremendous pressure as the South Asian country is undergoing its worst economic crisis, inflation is at record highs and the prices have not come down despite the claims by the authorities.
Citing recent surveys, Geo News reported that the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) — the ruling coalition government in Pakistan headed by Sharif — has lost much of its popularity and faces an uphill task to win the confidence of the people in the upcoming polls.
As a result, PML-N is eyeing the return of its supremo, Nawaz Sharif as the three-time PM has a strong support base in Punjab, it reported.
