What are the Sharifs doing in Saudi Arabia?

Ever since the Sharif brothers left for Saudi Arabia, there have been talks that they are trying for another National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO)-type deal. The ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif left for the Kingdom on Saturday whereas his brother the Chief Minister of Punjab Shehbaz Sharif had gone there earlier this week.

The Sharif brothers and he senior leadership of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) are expected to meet Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman and other top people from Saudi leadership. The Sharif brothers are then scheduled to meet Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and later fly to London.

The next hearing of an accountability court which is trying the Sharif family members for alleged corruption is scheduled for January 2, so they have to be back in the country for that.

On Friday, Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique also left for Saudi Arabia along with his family. It has not been officially reported why the leadership is gathering in the Kingdom but sources say that they are there to work out a deal which can help Nawaz Sharif return to politics for the next elections.

Major political parties – the Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) – have already rejected any such possibility and warned that they will not accept any such move.

Meanwhile, PML-N sources say that the Sharif brothers are not trying to get any NRO deal and that they are just there in Saudi Arabia to discuss challenges faced by the Muslim work and to perform Umrah.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=55840

Posted by fatimaarshad on Jan 1 2018. Filed under Latest News, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.