Mian
T20I Debutant
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2016
- Runs
- 7,014
Pakistan’s former prime minister would escape a corruption trial and be allowed to live in exile under a potential deal being brokered by Saudi Arabia.
Nawaz Sharif is expected to visit Saudi Arabia as the kingdom appears ready to intervene in the stand-off between the head of Pakistan’s longest ruling political dynasty and the military establishment.
Mr Sharif, who requires permission to leave Pakistan, is ready to quit active politics, without facing prosecution, according to a source. However, he has been forced to change his preferred line of political succession, naming his brother Shehbaz Sharif as heir to his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party, Pakistan’s largest, in place of his daughter, a foe of the military.
Mr Sharif, who has been prime minister three times, was forced from power in July when the Supreme Court disqualified him from holding office, after which a series of corruption cases were opened against him and his family.
He has not gone down without a fight. His political machine, headed by his daughter Maryam Nawaz, has persistently criticised the army for being behind the judiciary’s moves. As a result, civil-military tension in Pakistan has escalated.
Nasser Khan Janjua, the national security adviser acting as an intermediary between the military and the government, confirmed he had a meeting with Mr Sharif on Thursday. Mr Janjua declined to confirm or deny suggestions that Mr Sharif had been offered a backroom deal, but told The Times that he would “never be a part of or party to any conspiracy against the great state of Pakistan”.
Riyadh has long played peace broker between Mr Sharif and the military. After the 1999 coup Mr Sharif depended on the goodwill of the Saudi authorities to bypass prison, even execution, and remain in exile for eight years.
The Saudis are indicating that they await a final sign-off from the Pakistani military. Shehbaz Sharif, an Arabic speaker seen as an ally of the Pakistani military, arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday on a Saudi plane sent to fetch him from Pakistan.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/pakistan-could-let-ex-pm-nawaz-sharif-go-into-exile-zb5nk9fdj
Nawaz Sharif is expected to visit Saudi Arabia as the kingdom appears ready to intervene in the stand-off between the head of Pakistan’s longest ruling political dynasty and the military establishment.
Mr Sharif, who requires permission to leave Pakistan, is ready to quit active politics, without facing prosecution, according to a source. However, he has been forced to change his preferred line of political succession, naming his brother Shehbaz Sharif as heir to his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party, Pakistan’s largest, in place of his daughter, a foe of the military.
Mr Sharif, who has been prime minister three times, was forced from power in July when the Supreme Court disqualified him from holding office, after which a series of corruption cases were opened against him and his family.
He has not gone down without a fight. His political machine, headed by his daughter Maryam Nawaz, has persistently criticised the army for being behind the judiciary’s moves. As a result, civil-military tension in Pakistan has escalated.
Nasser Khan Janjua, the national security adviser acting as an intermediary between the military and the government, confirmed he had a meeting with Mr Sharif on Thursday. Mr Janjua declined to confirm or deny suggestions that Mr Sharif had been offered a backroom deal, but told The Times that he would “never be a part of or party to any conspiracy against the great state of Pakistan”.
Riyadh has long played peace broker between Mr Sharif and the military. After the 1999 coup Mr Sharif depended on the goodwill of the Saudi authorities to bypass prison, even execution, and remain in exile for eight years.
The Saudis are indicating that they await a final sign-off from the Pakistani military. Shehbaz Sharif, an Arabic speaker seen as an ally of the Pakistani military, arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday on a Saudi plane sent to fetch him from Pakistan.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/pakistan-could-let-ex-pm-nawaz-sharif-go-into-exile-zb5nk9fdj
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