ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s three-time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif appeared on national television screens on Saturday after maintaining a relatively low profile since the February 8 general elections, highlighting the achievements of his previous tenures and contrasting them with the prolonged economic turmoil for which he held his rivals accountable.
Sharif, who went into self-exile in November 2019 after being convicted in a corruption case, returned to Pakistan in October last year and was widely viewed as the favorite candidate for the prime minister’s post with the support of the country’s powerful army.
However, he decided against taking the PM’s office after the national polls failed to produce a clear winner, leading to speculation that his role in the country’s politics had all but ended.
However, Sharif’s appearance at the Central Working Committee meeting of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party in Lahore showed he was once again ready to assert his control over his political faction and, by extension, national politics.
“The price of every item was at a nominal level when I was prime minister, whether it was electricity, gas, vegetables, petrol or other essential items of life,” he said while reflecting on his political career, during which his administrations could not complete the constitutionally stipulated five-year tenure.
He maintained that inflation was low, the country was progressing and the interest rate hovered just above five percent during his rule.
“Today, it stands at 22 percent,” he continued.
Sharif emphasized that people should consider which political party had safeguarded their economic interests and which one had made their lives difficult before deciding who should run the country.
“Do you think before voting about what Nawaz Sharif’s performance was and how his rivals fared in contrast?” he asked. “Do you consider the prices during Nawaz Sharif’s tenure to where they are today?”
The PML-N founding leader raised these issues at a time when his party is forced to take stringent financial measures to secure a fresh International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan, leading to high inflation and a depressed economy.
He is also poised to be re-elected to the post of party president on May 28 after his younger brother and the incumbent Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif stepped down from the position earlier this month.
The younger Sharif took over the PML-N presidency after his elder brother was removed following a Supreme Court verdict that disqualified him from holding public office or serving as head of any political faction.
The three-time prime minister also sought the accountability of the judges who removed him from power amid preparations to reclaim his party.
Nawaz Sharif touts past economic success, signaling political comeback amid party leadership change
https://arab.news/6hujb
Nawaz Sharif touts past economic success, signaling political comeback amid party leadership change
- Sharif is poised to be re-elected as party president on May 28 after his younger brother and current PM stepped down
- He was widely viewed as the favorite for Pakistan’s top political office before the Feb. 8 polls failed to produce clear results
Pakistan recalibrating foreign policy, expanding engagement across Middle East, key regions — deputy PM
- Ishaq Dar outlines evolving foreign policy priorities at governance forum
- Economic diplomacy, UN Security Council role central to outreach
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is expanding its engagement across the Middle East, Central Asia and ASEAN as part of a broader recalibration of its foreign policy in a shifting global order, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar said on Tuesday.
Pakistan has in recent years intensified outreach to Gulf states and regional partners as it seeks to deepen trade, investment and energy cooperation while stabilizing its economy. The Middle East remains a key source of remittances and strategic partnerships for Islamabad.
The renewed diplomatic push also comes as Pakistan begins its 2025–26 term on the United Nations Security Council, where officials say the country will advocate conflict resolution, civilian protection and support for a two-state solution for Palestine.
Speaking at the Pakistan Governance Forum 2026 in Islamabad, Dar said Islamabad was strengthening strategic partnerships worldwide while prioritizing sovereignty, security and national interests.
“Pakistan is strengthening strategic partnerships worldwide — deepening our all-weather cooperation with China, reinvigorating ties with the United States, and expanding engagement across the Middle East, Central Asia, ASEAN, and beyond,” Dar said, according to highlights of his address shared by the Foreign Ministry.
He added that “economic diplomacy and climate action are central to our global engagement,” citing trade, IT, minerals, halal sectors and climate finance as priorities.
Dar also reiterated Islamabad’s position that regional peace in South Asia was “inseparable from a just resolution of Jammu & Kashmir, in line with UN Security Council resolutions and the right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people.”
Referring to Pakistan’s election to the UN Security Council with 182 votes, he said the country would champion peaceful conflict resolution, counterterrorism and “a just two-state solution for Palestine based on pre-1967 borders with Al Quds Al Sharif as capital.”
