Nawaz Sharif to return to Pakistan in October: Former PM Shehbaz Sharif

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday said Pakistan Muslim League (N) PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif would return to Pakistan in October, as per Dawn.

Dawn is a Pakistani English-language newspaper.

Sharif told media persons in London: "We held consultations with the senior leadership of the party and we have decided that our quaid [leader] Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif will return to Pakistan in October."

Nawaz flanked Shehbaz and listened quietly as the latter made the announcement, as per Dawn.

Shehbaz did not specify a date when Nawaz would return. However, Geo News, citing informed sources, reported that the elder Sharif's date of return would be October 15. When Dawn reached out to party leaders earlier, PML-N Senator Afnanullah Khan said "no date has been finalised yet".

Shehbaz landed at Heathrow earlier this week to meet his elder brother, discuss key political developments in the run-up to the general election and set a date for the party supremo's return to Pakistan.

Nawaz Sharif departed Pakistan in November 2019 for medical treatment following his conviction in a corruption case. He has not returned since and faces multiple cases in Pakistan. He was deemed an absconder the following February. Later in 2020, courts declared him as a proclaimed offender.

Reports of Nawaz's return once again started making the rounds, earlier this month but no official announcement was made from the PML-N supremo himself.

Over the last year, especially since the ouster of PTI Chairman Imran Khan and the change at the helm in April 2022, at several points, some PML-N leaders claimed that the senior Sharif is "coming back to Pakistan next month", as per Dawn.