A FOURTH stint as prime minister awaits. Nawaz Sharif is tantalisingly close to the finish line, having won another reprieve from the courts with the voidance of his conviction in the Al Azizia case.

After his prompt acquittal in the Avenfield reference just days earlier, the nullification of the Al Azizia conviction has paved the way for Mr Sharif to contest polls and hold public office again, his lawyers say. But a final hurdle may still be standing between him and the coveted chair.

The Supreme Court this week raised a timely question: how can the apex court’s interpretation of the ‘sadiq and ameen’ clause — which, it has upheld, deems a politician ineligible to contest polls for their lifetime — and recent amendments to the Elections Act, which limit disqualification to five years, coexist?

It bears recalling that Mr Sharif had been disqualified from ever holding public office in the Panama Papers case after being found ‘unfit’ under Article 62(1)(f). To counter that, the PDM government amended the Elections Act earlier this year in order to limit the period of disqualification to a more ‘suitable’ length of time.

While the incumbent chief justice has vowed to settle the lifetime disqualification issue “once and for all”, he has also warned that the court’s review of the matter should not be used as a pretext to delay elections any further. This could mean that the matter may continue to be heard even beyond Feb 8.

In such a scenario, Mr Sharif could remain vulnerable to challenges against his qualifications for holding public office before and maybe even after he is elected — not an ideal scenario for someone who has seen his career as chief executive interrupted again and again.

It will be interesting to see how the PML-N strategises for the worst-case scenario in this regard. There is, of course, a hopeful waiting in the wings in case things do not pan out as planned by the elder Sharif. For now, the PML-N is celebrating the courts doing ‘justice’ by acquitting Mr Sharif.

Elsewhere, another ex-prime minister is being put through the mill in connection with charges that seem as controversial as the ones that were used to take down Mr Sharif. Will Pakistan’s judicial system also give him ‘justice’ years later? If the past is any indication, one would expect as much.

Published in Dawn, December 14th, 2023