PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif has stated that he traveled to London to attend a party meeting focused on discussing “legal and administrative” matters. He emphasized that decisions regarding these issues have already been made.
Following the meeting, Shehbaz spoke to reporters, explaining that he had come to the city on the instructions of his brother and party leader, Nawaz Sharif. The suddenness of Shehbaz’s return to London, just 48 hours after returning to Pakistan, surprised many.
Nawaz Sharif had initially left London earlier in the week after spending several weeks there. However, upon his arrival in Lahore, he decided to return to London in order to have a face-to-face meeting with his elder brother.
During his time in London, Nawaz Sharif underwent medical check-ups and engaged in discussions with Shehbaz. It was Shehbaz who, alongside Nawaz, informed reporters outside Stanhope House that the elder Sharif would be returning to Pakistan on October 21.
Shehbaz’s visit coincided with the London trip of party vice-president Maryam Nawaz, who arrived just before her uncle on a separate flight.
In his conversation with reporters in London, Shehbaz refrained from going into detail about the meeting. Instead, he mentioned that Nawaz Sharif’s return was to “continue the development progress that was interrupted in 2018 after his mandate was allegedly stolen.”
According to Shehbaz, the alleged destruction of four years’ worth of development starting from 2013 seemed to have happened overnight, and he emphasized that this kind of situation was not evident elsewhere. He pointed out that Nawaz had made a commitment in 2013 to resolve the load shedding crisis, which he fulfilled. Shehbaz claimed that Nawaz’s aim was to lead the country back on the path of progress.
Shehbaz also emphasized that Nawaz’s return aimed to put an end to the “trend of hatred and disrespect” that he believed had been propagated among the youth by former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
In recent weeks, various PML-N leaders, including Mohammad Zubair, Abid Sher Ali, and Khawaja Asif, have met Nawaz in London and conveyed messages regarding his plan to return.