​Nawaz Sharif returns to Pakistan

​Pakistan's former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif prepares to release a pigeon in front of supporters in Lahore after returning from self-imposed exile on Oct. 21, 2023.

Pakistan's former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif prepares to release a pigeon in front of supporters in Lahore after returning from self-imposed exile on Oct. 21, 2023.

REUTERS/Mohsin Raza

With national elections looming in January, Pakistan’s politics just got more complicated as fugitive former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif returned Saturday from four years of self-imposed exile in London.

Sharif has been PM three times over the past 30 years. His first term ended by him being replaced by a military-backed president in 1993; his second saw him ousted in a coup in 1999, and his third saw Pakistan’s Supreme Court convict him of corruption in 2017. He then had his seven-year jail sentence suspended on medical grounds, permitting him to leave the country for treatment on the condition that he come back within four weeks, which he has not done until now.

Sharif flew into Islamabad on Saturday just days after he was granted protective bail, meaning he cannot be arrested before his next court appearance on Oct. 24. By later that day, his political ambitions were clear: Sharif flew to Lahore, where he told a public rally of tens of thousands of supporters that he would end unemployment, reduce inflation, revive Pakistan’s ailing economy, and “smash the begging bowl” to stop relying on foreign loans.

If he’s allowed to run, Sharif will face an uphill battle against ousted premier Imran Khan, who also faces legal constraints. Khan was jailed in August on corruption charges, which he is fighting, but a poll taken this summer showed that the flamboyant cricket-star-turned politician maintained a 60% approval rating despite his legal troubles.

What could Sharif’s return mean for Pakistan?Sharif sought improved relations with India, an issue that put him at odds with Pakistan’s military establishment. But Khan also lost the military’s support, leading to his ouster in 2022, and some analysts believe Pakistan’s army paved the way for Sharif’s return as the best hope for defeating Khan.

If Sharif prevails, Pakistan’s relations could improve with the west, but this prospect might be complicated by the Israel-Hamas war. Pakistan has been rocked by pro-Palestinian protests, the country has dispatched aid to Gaza, and Sharif’s son-in-law threatened Israel with jihad using his country’s nuclear weapons.

Expect plenty of fireworks in the months ahead as both Khan and Sharif try to fire up their bases by taking to Pakistan’s streets.

More from GZERO Media

People celebrate after President Yoon Suk-yeol's impeachment was accepted, near the Constitutional Court in Seoul, South Korea, on April 4, 2025.
REUTERS/Kim Hong-ji

South Korea’s Constitutional Court on Friday voted unanimously to oust impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol over his decision to declare martial law in December. Supporters of Yoon who gathered near the presidential residence in Seoul reportedly cried out in disappointment as the court’s 8-0 decision was announced. Others cheered the ruling. The center-right leader is now the second South Korean president to be ousted.

President Donald Trump speaks to the media as he leaves the White House for a trip to Florida on April 3, 2025.
Andrew Leyden/NurPhoto via Reuters

Stocks have plummeted, layoffs have begun, and confusion has metastasized about the bizarre method the United States used to calculate its tariff formula. But Donald Trump says it’s “going very well."

African National Congress (ANC) members of parliament react after South African lawmakers passed the budget's fiscal framework in Cape Town, South Africa, April 2, 2025.
REUTERS/Esa Alexander

The second largest party in South Africa’s coalition, the business-friendly Democratic Alliance, launched a legal challenge on Thursday to block a 0.5% VAT increase in the country’s new budget, raising concerns that the fragile government could collapse.

The Israeli Air Force launched an airstrike on Thursday, targeting a building in the Mashrou Dummar area of Damascus. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant confirmed Israel's responsibility for the attack, which resulted in one fatality.
Rami Alsayed via Reuters Connect

As we wrote in February, Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has big plans for Syria. Erdogan’s government was a crucial backer of the HTS militia, an Islamist rebel group that ousted longtime Syrian strongman Bashar Assad in December, and it now wants Turkey’s military to take over some air bases on Syrian territory in exchange for Turkish training of Syria’s new army.

A man leaves the U.S. headquarters of the social media company TikTok in Culver City, California, U.S. January 17, 2025.
REUTERS/David Swanson

Remember the TikTok ban? The new deadline President Donald Trump set for the app to find an American buyer or be banned from US app stores, midnight Saturday, is rapidly approaching.

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz looks on as he sits next to US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in the Oval Office on March 13, 2025.

REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

Someone needs to take National Security Advisor Michael Waltz’s phone out of his hand.

President Donald Trump holds a "Foreign Trade Barriers" document as he delivers remarks on tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House on April 2, 2025.

REUTERS/Carlos Barria

Donald Trump’s much-anticipated “liberation day” tariff announcement on Wednesday is the biggest disruption to global trade in decades, so the political, diplomatic, and economic impacts will take time to become clear.