Former prime minister of Pakistan returns to begin 10-year prison sentence
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — Former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif flew home Friday to start a 10-year prison sentence on a day when a bombing at an election rally killed at least 70 people, heightening security concerns for the country’s already fraught national elections.
Sharif, who was found guilty of corruption this month, arrived in Lahore on Friday evening after he and his daughter Maryam Nawaz — who was sentenced to seven years in the same case — boarded a plane from London. The pair were arrested shortly after their arrival at the Lahore airport.
His return is seen as a public show of acquiescence meant to win sympathy from voters in an election that analysts predict could either spell the downfall of one of Pakistan’s most charismatic leaders, or lead to years of civil unrest and political instability.
After boarding the flight Friday, Sharif posted a video on social media urging supporters to show up in droves for the July 25 election, and thereby resist what he has called a conspiracy to oust his ruling party from power. His Pakistan Muslim League-N party faces a stiff challenge from former cricket star Imran Khan’s PTI party for control of the National Assembly.
“I know that I have been given 10 years imprisonment and I will be taken straight to the prison but I want to tell the Pakistani nation that I am doing this for you,” Sharif said in his video.
The political drama has threatened to wipe away a relative sense of calm in Pakistan that has lasted for several years.
On Friday, some of Sharif’s supporters clashed with police in Lahore.
Meanwhile, a bombing in Baluchistan killed at least 70 people at a rally for a candidate running for the state legislature.