ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Senate has passed a Bill to ensure no parliamentarian is disqualified for a lifetime, a move termed by the Opposition as an attempt to clear the way for former premier Nawaz Sharif’s return to the country and his participation in the upcoming elections.
Nawaz Sharif was disqualified in 2017 by a five-member bench of the Supreme Court. In 2018, he became ineligible to hold public office for life after a Supreme Court verdict.
The 73-year-old former premier has been living in London since November 2019 for medical treatment after a Pakistani court allowed him a four-week reprieve.
Nawaz Sharif, who has served as the PM for three terms, was serving seven-year imprisonment in the Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore in the Al-Azizia corruption case.
The Senate passed the bill seeking to limit the disqualification of lawmakers to five years with retrospective effect, the local daily reported.
The move comes a day after Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif urged his elder brother, Nawaz, to return from London and lead the poll campaign of the party in the general election and become the premier of the nation for a record fourth time.