The UK Home Office has rejected a request by PML-N supremo and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif for an extension in his visa. PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb has also confirmed the development.
In a statement, Marriyum Aurangzeb said, “The UK Home Office has excused itself from further extending Muhammad Nawaz Sharif’s visa. She said the Home Office had stated that Nawaz could file an appeal against this decision in the immigration tribunal.
She said the Home Office’s order “would not be effective” until a decision on the appeal, and that “Nawaz Sharif can reside in the UK legally until the appeal is decided.”
It is also unclear why he has been refused an extension now but is widely expected to appeal the decision. Nawaz reportedly has a few days to leave the country but this is unlikely as he would seek to prolong his stay.
Nawaz’s convictions
Accountability judge Mohammad Arshad Malik had on Dec 24, 2018 convicted Sharif in the Al Azizia reference and sentenced him to seven years imprisonment, besides imposing fines of Rs1.5 billion and $25 million.
On October 29, 2019, after Nawaz was said by his doctors to be suffering from complicated cardiac disease and an immune system disorder that resulted in a dangerously low platelet count, his sentence in the Al Azizia reference was suspended by a two-member bench of the IHC comprising Justice Amir Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, for eight weeks on medical grounds.
Nawaz has been living in London since November 2019 after he was allowed to leave the country for medical treatment.
In December last year, Nawaz was declared a proclaimed offender in two cases — Avenfield properties and Al-Azizia — by the Islamabad High Court after he failed to appear before the court. The government had subsequently decided to cancel his passport.
Fawad Chaudhry’s statement
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry has said the former prime minister only has a couple of options left. “The first is that he can go to the Pakistani embassy, where he will be provided with temporary travel documents, through which he can travel back to Pakistan and answer for the crimes he has been charged with”, said Chaudhry.
The second option is that he can challenge the decision — “and he does not have any grounds for that as he is not sick,” the minister said. “We have seen him in videos walking in London, and dining out in restaurants. He will now lie to British courts of his sickness,” Chaudhry added.
What are the options?
Officially, Nawaz Sharif now has two options: to appeal the decision with the department, and in the event it is turned down, he can approach British courts.
Another option Nawaz is to seek asylum abroad. With his passport revoked and without a travel document, the former prime minister has good chance of being granted refuge.
If the UK authorities force Nawaz Sharif to leave, he could possibly visit a third country where he could stay indefinitely. However, without a passport, Nawaz would first have to apply for a temporary travel document.
