UK diplomat congratulates Nawaz Sharif on acquittal in graft cases ahead of Feb 8 polls

• Jane Marriot terms Feb 8 polls "important" for country's future.
• Nawaz underpins significance of bilateral trade and investment.
• Shehbaz and Maryam also part of high-level meeting in Lahore.

LAHORE: With the upcoming general elections exactly a month away, British High Commissioner to Pakistan Jane Marriot Monday called on Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif and facilitated the three-time former prime minister on his acquittal in various cases.

During the meeting in Lahore, also attended by party President Shehbaz Sharif and Chief Organiser Maryam Nawaz, matters of mutual interest came under discussion wherein the British diplomat termed the February 8 polls “important” with regards to the country’s future.

Meanwhile, the PML-N supremo underscored the significant role of British-Pakistanis in bilateral relations and termed the trade and investment between the two countries as an imperative need of the hour.

The meeting comes against the backdrop of Nawaz’s successful legal battles as the former premier has been able to get major relief in various graft cases from the courts ever since his return to the country after a four-year self-imposed exile from the UK in October 2023.

In November 2023, Nawaz, who is eying for the country’s chief executive post for a record fourth time, was acquitted by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in the Avenfield Apartments reference case — a graft reference wherein he was sentenced to a total of 11 years in jail upon conviction and was slapped with a £8 million fine (approximately Rs1.3 billion) for owning assets beyond known sources of income.

A month later, the politico was exonerated by the same court in the Al-Azizia reference — a corruption case in which he was convicted over his failure to justify the source of the funds provided to set up Al-Azizia Steel Mills and Hill Metal Establishment (HME) in Saudi Arabia.

The former premier was sentenced to seven years in jail and was slapped with a £2.5 million fine in the said case.

Despite this, a major hurdle stood between Nawaz and his eligibility to run for public office i.e., his lifetime disqualification in the Supreme Court of Pakistan's landmark Panama ruling.

However, this snag was removed today after the apex court overruled its earlier verdict and ended the lifetime disqualification of lawmakers.

In its short order issued earlier in the day, the 6-1 majority verdict announced by the seven-member bench led by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa declared that no person can be barred for a lifetime from running in elections if they are disqualified under Article 62 (1)(f) of the Constitution.

The development has effectively paved the way for the likes of Nawaz and Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) Patron-in-Chief Jahangir Khan Tareen to contest in the upcoming general elections.