Nawaz Sharif, with diplomatic passport, embarks on 5-nation Europe tour
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif with daughter Maryam Nawaz in London | @MaryamNSharif |
Members of Pakistan's politically significant Sharif family left Londonfor a five-nation tour of Europe, Pakistani media reported Monday citing sources. Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, accompanied by his daughter Maryam Nawaz, son Hussain Nawaz and others departed from London to Europe earlier this week.
Ten-day-trip: Multiple European countries covered
It was not immediately clear which countries in Europe the Sharifsplan to visit. However, this is for the first time that Nawaz Sharif has left London in last three years.
Nawaz Sharif issued a diplomatic passport
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was removed from Prime Minister's office in 2017 by country's Supreme Court after his name appeared inPanama Papers scandal. In 2018, he was disqualified from holding public office and was also sentenced to ten years in prison by an accountability court.
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But on November 10, a change-of-heart in Islamabad's power corridors made its impact all the way Avenfield House in London, where NawazSharif is residing since he left Pakistan in 2018. Nawaz Sharif was issued a diplomatic passport by Pakistan government led by his brother, the present-day Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif.
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His diplomatic passport was revoked by the now-ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan's government in 2018 and he was issued an ordinary passport instead.
Nawaz Sharif's Europe visit: A personal affair?
It is not immediately clear if the five-nation tour of Pakistan holds any political significance for the immediate fate of Islamabad's power corridors and the current political climate of the country. However, in past, Pakistani Prime Ministers when either ousted or under exile, have used foreign-nation trips to galvanise support to legitimise their political interests back home. Most notably, during the period between 1984-1987 and early 2000s, the former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto used the platforms abroad to hit against country's military dicators, all the while attempting to legitimise her 'political movement' in Pakistan.
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