ISLAMABAD
After spending over four years in self-imposed exile in London, former three-time prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif’s charter plane has landed at Islamabad International Airport.
His plane took off from Dubai International Airport at 10:42 am Pakistan Standard Time and was expected to touch down at the Islamabad Airport after 1:30pm on Saturday noon, but it landed around 1:40 pm.
As many as 163 people were present in the plane along with former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. He will consult with his legal team at the airport.
There was great hustle and bustle at the Dubai Airport where Nawaz Sharif was accorded special protocol by the UAE authorities.
The special Fly Dubai flight FZ 4525, which was originally due to depart Dubai at 9:30 AM but faced a delay of over an hour for unexplained reasons.
The party leaders and journalists accompanied the PML-N supremo on his journey back home.
PML-N leader Mian Nasir Janjua, Irfan Siddiqui, PML-N president Zubair Gul from the UK, Parvez from the Netherlands and PML-N chief Zahoor-ul-Haq from France were also among those travelling with Nawaz Sharif on the charter plane, nicknamed as Umeed-e-Pakistan.
Earlier, talking to the media at Dubai Airport, Nawaz Sharif while distinguishing himself and his party from the PTI chairman and his party, former prime minister and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif said that he is the one who had detonated nukes on May 28, 1998 and not the one who had masterminded attacks on military installations on May 9, 2023.
It bears mentioning that May 28 is the day when Pakistan conducted its nuclear tests in 1998 when Nawaz Sharif was prime minister of Pakistan. Resisting the mounting world pressure, then Nawaz-led government went for the bold decision to test the Pakistani nukes, thus balancing the strategic slanting power in the region.
On the other hand, May 9 brings the most horrific memories of the tragic day when the military installations, public buildings, and properties were vandalized and torched in a series of violent incidents following the arrest of PTI Chairman Imran Khan from the grounds of Islamabad High Court. The events left a black trail of public enmity and shame behind them.
Nawaz Sharif has said that he would accept whatever date the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) sets for general elections.
He has claimed he is returning home after getting a ‘clean chit’ in all graft cases.
Nawaz has further said it pains him to see the situation the country was going through. “It is sad that the country instead of developing has gone downhill,” he said, and questioned as to where is that Pakistan where medicines were available free of cost?
“This is certainly not the Pakistan which I had left in 2017,” he has said, adding, “In that year, people were getting jobs and were being provided treatment facilities for free.”
The question is, he has said that who is responsible for the country’s plight. “Anyhow we should not lose heart as still we can make the country stand on its own feet,” he hoped.
He has recalled that he and his daughter Maryam Nawaz had attended close to 150 court hearings. “It is unfortunate that despite the fact that Maryam did not hold any public office, still she was declared guilty and put behind bars,” the former prime minister complained.
Nawaz Sharif has arrived in Islamabad this afternoon after four years of self-imposed exile. Regarding his arrival, the Civil Aviation Authority released a special charter flight schedule.
The special flight carrying Nawaz Sharif will depart Islamabad for Lahore at about 4:00 pm and the aircraft is expected to will land at Allama Iqbal Airport after 4:30 PM. This special flight carrying Nawaz Sharif has a seating capacity of 194 people.
After staying at Islamabad Airport for two hours, Nawaz Sharif departed for Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport by the same charter plane. Special arrangements have been made for landing of the chartered aircraft at Islamabad Airport.
On Friday, Nawaz Sharif held important meetings with Pakistani businessmen, UAE officials and others.
On the occasion of the return of Nawaz Sharif, caravans of Pakistan Muslim League-N workers have left for Lahore from all over the country to participate in the welcome-home rally at Minar-i-Pakistan.
League workers left Karachi by train, while workers from different areas of Gilgit, Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa also left in caravans by train and vehicles.
Apart from this, Minar Pakistan including Lahore has been decorated like a bride with electric lamps. In this regard, the League leaders held a rally at Minar-i-Pakistan on Friday night, in which Maryam Nawaz and Hamza Shehbaz participated and encouraged the workers.
The PML-N has hired services of two small aircraft to shower rose petals in Lahore between 3:00pm and 6:30pm today.
The Civil Aviation Authority has granted permission to a private company for this purpose.
A helicopter that will bring Nawaz Sharif to Minar-i-Pakistan has made two sorties for the rehearsal of the event.
Yesterday, the PML-N supremo reached Dubai to fly to Pakistan on Saturday ending his four years of self-imposed exile in the United Kingdom. He had left the country on medical grounds in November 2019. He was serving a jail term when he was allowed to go to England for medical treatment.
Ahead of his arrival, Nawaz had secured protective bail in the Avenfield and Al-Azizia cases until October 24 from the Islamabad High Court. NAB Special Prosecutor Afzal Qureshi told the court that the anti-graft watchdog did not object to pleas moved by him.
In July 2018, ousted Nawaz was handed 10 years in jail in the Avenfield properties corruption case and one year for not cooperating with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), which was to be served concurrently.
The 73-year-old is one of the country’s wealthiest men, with a fortune earned in the steel business, but is admired by supporters for his approachable “man of the soil” demeanour.
Often draped in a red Gucci scarf, his political fortunes have risen and fallen on his relationship with Pakistan’s powerful military establishment.
Fans call him “the Lion of Punjab”, the eastern and most populous province where his support is strongest, and he is known to parade big cats at extravagant political events drumming up support.
Nawaz Sharif is widely believed to have continued pulling the strings of his PML-N, even after his brother Shehbaz Sharif led them to power last year in a coalition ousting Imran Khan.
Nawaz first took power in 1990 with the blessing of the establishment, but was forced out three years later by corruption allegations — a theme that has dogged his career.
He had lived for years in Saudi Arabia and London — where the Sharif family has extensive luxury properties — only to return to Pakistan each time with renewed zeal.
