Nawaz Sharif to contest elections from Mansehra region, says his son-in-law

Islamabad: Pakistan’s former prime minister Nawaz Sharif would contest elections from Mansehra region of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, his son-in-law Captain (retd.) Muhammad Safdar said on Wednesday.

Safdar, who hails from Mansehra and is married to Sharif’s daughter Maryam Nawaz, told the media that the 73-year-old three time former premier would submit his nomination papers for the National Assembly seat “NA 15 Mansehra-cum-Torghar constituency” by Thursday (December 21).

Mansehra is part of Hazara division which is considered a stronghold of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). Sharif is also expected to contest from Lahore in addition to Mansehra.

Sharif, the only Pakistani politician who became the prime minister of the coup-prone country for a record three times, returned to Pakistan in October after a four-year self-imposed exile to lead his party in the general elections.

Sharif, acquitted in the Avenfield and Al Azizia cases by the Islamabad High Court, eyes a record fourth term as premier in the next elections.

However, Sharif faces a big hurdle as he remains disqualified from holding public office by the Supreme Court in the Panama Papers case, and in a later judgment interpreting a provision of the Constitution that involves honesty and trustworthiness – the top court ruled that the disqualification is for life.

Earlier this year amendments were made to the Elections Act, 2017 by the government led by Sharif’s younger brother and PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif, limiting the disqualification of lawmakers to five years with a retrospective effect.

The Supreme Court has decided to form a larger bench to determine once and for all whether aspirants disqualified can contest polls in light of the amendments in the Elections Act, 2017.

The case is expected to be decided before elections scheduled to be held on February 8.

Earlier, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaf announced that its incarcerated founder leader Imran Khan would contest the general elections from at least three seats.