ISLAMABAD, July 31: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has given his clearest indication yet that he will not return to Pakistan to contest October elections, a senior member of his political party said on Wednesday.

Such a decision would rob the poll of a key player and make life easier for military ruler Pervez Musharraf.

Nawaz is in exile and facing possible arrest if he returns home to contest a parliamentary election.

“He (Sharif) will indicate to us, after consultation with party officials, the name of the party president,” Raja Zafarul Haq, chairman of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) of which Nawaz Sharif is president, told Reuters.

“I think Nawaz would not like to annoy his hosts Saudi Arabia (by leaving for Pakistan),” added Raja, himself a leading candidate to take over the position.

But Tehmina Daultana, a vice-president of the PML, insisted Nawaz had yet to make up his mind.

Any decision not to return from Saudi Arabia would be seen as a major blow to his party, which is a member of Pakistan’s main political alliance seeking to put an end to military rule.

Ever since Musharraf sent him into 10 years’ exile in Saudi Arabia in 2000, rumours have circulated that a deal was struck between the two governments.

“If there is an agreement between the governments of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia that he should not come back before the election, then he would honour that,” Zafarul Haq said.

FUTURE: About the future, Pakistan Muslim League will decide this weekend whether to follow its main rival party and return an exiled, deposed ex-prime minister as its chairman, in defiance of government attempts to keep him out of politics.