Sharif averts ignominy of being sacked for 3rd time
ISLAMABAD — Nawaz Sharif, the only Pakistani politician who has the distinction of being the prime minister for a record three times, on Thursday managed to avert the ignominy of being forced out for a third time without completing his term.
Sharif, who was forced to quit twice in the middle of his term — first by the presidency, then the military — survived a similar fate at the hands of judiciary.
Sharif successfully managed to swim through all the “tsunamis” since he assumed power for the third term in June 2013.
The PML-N leader, seen by many as someone who can fix the country’s problems such as economy and the terrorism, had found himself besieged by problems after Panama papers showed illegal money laundering by him in 1990s when he twice served as prime minister to purchase assets in London.
The revelation forced Sharif to address the nation twice and disclose a detailed account of his family’s businesses in the National Assembly, explaining how his late father had built the business empire, which was the source of income used to buy properties in London and other holdings.
Sharif had promised to quit if found guilty in the case.
The ruling by a five-member bench on Thursday to set up a Joint Investigation Team to probe the graft allegations against Sharif’s family provided him a big relief at a time when country is facing brittle economy and surge in militancy.
A steel tycoon cum politician, Sharif had served as the prime minister for the first time from 1990 to 1993.
During his tenure, Sharif developed serious differences with president Ghulam Ishaq Khan, who dissolved the National Assembly in April 1993. In July, Sharif resigned under pressure from the army but made a settlement that resulted in the removal of Khan as well.
Sharif’s second term as prime minister from 1997 ended in October 1999 when then Army Chief General Pervez Musharraf carried out a bloodless coup.
In a dramatic fall from grace, Sharif ended up in jail, convicted of hijacking charges for trying to stop a plane carrying Musharraf from landing. He then went into exile in Saudi Arabia and didn’t return to Pakistan until 2007, when he teamed up with the PPP to force Musharraf from office.
Both of Sharif’s first two stints had ended in the third year of his tenure.
In the 2013 elections, Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-N (PMLN) emerged as the single largest party falling just short of a majority.