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New Delhi, Delhi, India
Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) is a centre-right, fiscally prudent and socially conservative party, the PML-N draws its strength from Punjab and was led by the thrice-elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif until he was disqualified on the contempt of the apex Court in 2017.
From 2008 to 2013, PML-N ruled the Punjab province, Pakistan's most populous province where it has formed provincial government six times since 1985 (except in 1993 and 2002).
History
In 1988, after General Zia's death, Pakistan Muslim League came under the undisputed leadership of Nawaz Sharif but it was officially established in 1992.
Nawaz Sharif entered the assembly elections as PML-N leader for the first time in 1993 after he struggled to gather support from religious parties to challenge the PPP. However, the party lost to PPP who obtained 86 seats to PML-N’s 72.
In the 1997 general elections, PML -N achieved its most notable and biggest win by acquiring nearly two-thirds majority in the National Assembly for the first time in history. Its members occupied 137 seats out of 207.
The PML-N government gained more popularity by carrying out nuclear tests. However, it was ousted in a military coup led by Pervez Musharraf in 1999.
The 1999 coup d'état was carried out to remove PML-N's government. Controversially, the party was considerably divided, further affecting Nawaz Sharif's trial in military court.
In 2001, Muslim League (Nawaz) formally adopted the name of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), also known as PML (N).
The party had a downfall in the 2002 polls. It suffered a massive blow in the elections due to the divisions in the form of fractions of PML as well as Sharif’s exile in Saudi Arabia. The PML-N leadership eventually went on to sign the Charter of Democracy (CoD) with PPP in 2006 which was signed by Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto in London.
In February 2008, after the polls were closed, it was announced that PPP and PML-N will form a government in Punjab and became part of the PPP-led coalition government at the center which would have half the seats in the 342 seat Parliament.
However, problematic issues, such as reinstatement of judges deposed by Musharraf and one-sided nomination of Zardari as a presidential candidate, created a rift between the parties with the PML-N deciding to part ways with the federal government.
During its election campaign for the 2013 general elections, the party competed against PPP and PTI and secured the qualified majority in the state parliament, the Punjab Assembly and Balochistan Assembly.
Nawaz Sharif became for the third time Prime Minister of Pakistan - the first person to ever hold the position for this long.
According to Gallup Pakistan (national), Pulse Consultant (national) and IPOR (provincial) polls released recently, PML-N currently remains the preferred party among voters in the largest province but PTI has gained ground and narrowed the gap significantly.
Nawaz's crisis
In 2017, Supreme Court disqualified Sharif as PML-N leader in a judgment that referred to his earlier disqualification as prime minister by the apex court in July last year and ruled that Sharif cannot hold the party office. The apex court also declared all orders by Sharif as null and void. Sharif criticized his disqualification by terming it a conspiracy against him.
Nawaz's conviction in the money-laundering case is the decision of the National Accountability Bureau, which found him and his political aspirant daughter Mariam, guilty of corruption in the Avenfield Properties (London) case. Nawaz has been sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment and his daughter to seven years, in addition to hefty fines on both.
The arrest
Pakistan's embattled former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam are set to arrive in Lahore today to face arrest in a corruption case, amid high security and a massive crackdown on his party activists.
The Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz leader and his daughter stopped over in Abu Dhabi today on their way to Pakistan from London.
Sharif and Maryam are expected to land at Lahore's Allama Iqbal International Airport at 6.15 PM (local time) via Abu Dhabi on Etihad Airways flight EY243, the Dawn reported.
They will be arrested on their arrival at Lahore airport from where they will be taken to Islamabad by helicopter so that they can be sent to Adiala jail for imprisonment.