[ad_1]
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, sentenced last week to ten years in prison for corruption, was detained upon his arrival in Pakistan Friday, an event that paves the way for a further hardening of the countryside already tense for the elections scheduled for July 25.
M. Sharif and his daughter Maryam, arriving in Lahore aboard a flight from Abu Dhabi, "were arrested" by the anti-corruption authorities and transferred to the Islamabad capital, according to a statement from the Islamabad municipality. An official of the anti-corruption authority has confirmed the double arrest on condition of anonymity.
This return comes in addition while two deadly attacks on Friday targeted electoral meetings in the west of the country, making more than 130 total deaths according to a provisional balance sheet. The deadliest of the two, perpetrated in Baluchistan province, has been claimed by the Islamic State Jihadist group and is the bloodiest to strike Pakistan since 2014.
The former head of government and his daughter Maryam were convicted respectively 10 years and 7 years in prison by an anti-corruption court last Friday while they were in London at the bedside of their wife and mother, who is treated for cancer.
"I know that (…) I will be taken directly to prison," Sharif said in a video released earlier Friday by his party. "I want to tell the Pakistanis that I did this for you (…) Walk with me, join your hands with mine and change the destination of the country," said Sharif, who remains very influential in his country and had asked his supporters to come and greet him at the airport.
His condemnation, denounced as "political" by his clan, caused a sudden rise in tension before the parliamentary elections scheduled for July 25 in the country, which the PML-N, in power since 2013, hopes to win.
It was further accentuated on Thursday when Nawaz's brother and party leader, Shahbaz Sharif, claimed that "hundreds of militants" of their party, the PML-N, had been arrested in recent days to prevent them from come to demonstrate their support for Mr. Sharif
"The whole world knows that the PML-N is targeted," he added, denouncing a "screaming pre-election fraud". Some 15,000 of its supporters were gathered and danced and sang Friday afternoon in a partially closed city, AFP reported.
Shipping containers were placed near strategic axes, ready to be used for block the traffic. Nearly 8,000 policemen had been deployed.
Even before the Sharif's condemnation and Friday's attacks, many observers were worried about the turn of the election campaign in Pakistan, where several cases of kidnappings, pressure and threats on media and political activists have been reported. Questioned, the army denies any involvement.
– Case prison –
The return of Mr. Sharif seems guided by the desire to save his party, whose electoral campaign has floundered since his departure for London and whose lead in the polls has melted, estimates the Pakistani badyst Zahid Hussain.
"It is clear that the prospects of the party (at the polls) would be worse if it had not returned", judge-
"In Pakistan, the leaders must go through the prison cell, it is important for their profile," adds the journalist Rahimullah Yusufzai.
The images of Nawaz separating from his suffering wife to face the prison are "powerful and that will benefit him, his party and his family," he said.
Nawaz Sharif was dismissed by the Supreme Court from his post as prime minister in July 2017 after revelations about luxurious real estate owned by his family via off holdings
The Pakistani judiciary then prohibited him from leading his party and then participating in any vote for life. His clan denies any wrongdoing and claims that Nawaz Sharif is the victim of a conspiracy perpetrated by the powerful Pakistani army.
The main rival of the PML-N in the next election will be the PTI, led by former cricket champion Imran Khan.
Two attacks on electoral meetings also shook the country Friday, further increasing the atmosphere .
The bloodiest one, caused by a kamikaze in the unstable Balochistan province, killed at least 128 people, including a Baluchistan Awami Party (BAP) candidate, Agha Umar Bungalzai.
Earlier Friday, a motorcycle bomb left four dead and 39 wounded near Bannu (northwestern) when a convoy of a politician pbaded by.
The army said this week that deploy more than 370,000 men to ensure security on polling day
© 2018 AFP. All rights of reproduction and representation reserved. All information reproduced in this section (news, photos, logos) is protected by intellectual property rights held by AFP. Therefore, none of this information may be reproduced, modified, reposted, translated, exploited commercially or reused in any way without the prior written consent of AFP.
[ad_2]Source link
