Former Pakistani Leader Returns From Exile

LAHORE, Pakistan _ Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif returned from seven years of exile Sunday, but this time he was allowed to stay.

Sharif, who tried to come home in September but was kicked out five hours later, looked almost shell-shocked as he walked out of the Lahore airport, where he was greeted by frantic crowds who carried him on their shoulders and shouted that they loved him.

His return from exile in Saudi Arabia complicates the already tumultuous politics of Pakistan, where President Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency Nov. 3 after months of turmoil. The return paves the way for parliamentary elections that will likely lead to a messy coalition government rather than the stable one desired by the West, analysts said.

For Sharif and Musharraf, the political confrontation is personal. Musharraf, the country’s army chief, deposed Sharif in 1999, just after Sharif tried to prevent Musharraf’s plane from landing in Pakistan.

“I do not believe in the politics of revenge,” Sharif told the crowd at the airport as he stood on a counter. “I will try my best to end dictatorship in Pakistan and will campaign for democracy. My life and death are for Pakistan.”

Sharif, best known for ordering the country’s first successful nuclear tests in 1998, returns to a much different country, one riven by sectarian clashes, terrorist attacks and anti-military sentiment. Pakistan is now seen as a cornerstone in the U.S.-led war on terror, a country where domestic political problems ripple far outside the borders, and where the fight against militants has been hurt by the deepening political crisis of recent months.

But Sharif, who accepted exile in Saudi Arabia instead of serving a life sentence stemming from convictions for hijacking and other charges, is also a much different man.

Once known as the military’s stooge, Sharif is now seen as a symbol of opposition to military rule. Once considered a Muslim fundamentalist who wanted to set up Islamic law and declare himself the commander of the faithful, Sharif has recently adopted much more moderate tones. Gone are the anti-Western speeches and the desire for Islamic law. He has even said in recent interviews that he would support the war on terror _ on his terms.

Sharif, 57, also looks younger, sporting a hair transplant, just like his younger brother, Shahbaz Sharif, a politician, who also returned on the flight from Saudi Arabia, along with about 30 family members.

“He’s a very different man now; he’s 100 percent changed,” said Yaseen Qureshi, a flight attendant who waited 10 hours at the airport to see Sharif. Qureshi said the biggest change in Sharif is that he is now a hard-liner opposed to Musharraf and military rule.

The arrival of Sharif at least temporarily takes the spotlight away from another opposition leader, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, whose own return from self-imposed exile Oct. 18 was overshadowed by deadly bombings that killed at least 140 people. Bhutto and Musharraf had been negotiating a power-sharing deal, which she has said evaporated in the days after Musharraf declared the emergency.

In many ways, Sharif’s arrival sets up the same triangle of limited political choice that Pakistan has faced for decades: Sharif, a Bhutto or a military ruler.

But Sharif’s arrival also throws the country’s traditional power structure into upheaval. Bhutto and her Pakistan People’s Party, founded by her father, have always relied on a populist platform opposed to military rule. In contrast, Sharif’s party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, has been seen as the pro-establishment, pro-military party.

But in recent months, Bhutto’s popularity has plummeted as her unpopular negotiations with Musharraf became public. Sharif’s popularity has soared because of his repeated pledges not to do business with Musharraf.

On Sunday night, Bhutto welcomed Sharif’s return and said she would be happy to work with him.

It’s still not clear whether the opposition parties will participate in the parliamentary elections, scheduled for Jan. 8, or boycott them because of the emergency. Candidates from most parties, including Sharif’s, planned to submit petition papers for office by the deadline Monday. But the parties have until Dec. 15 to pull out.

Whichever party wins a majority will pick the country’s prime minister, who will have to work with Musharraf. The president, who most likely declared the emergency in part to secure his win in the presidential election, is supposed to step down as army chief this week and be sworn in for another five-year term.

Despite the enmity between Sharif and Musharraf and Sharif’s failed trip home Sept. 10, Pakistani authorities had little choice but to allow his return this time, largely because of pressure from the international community and support from the Saudi royal family, who are incredibly influential in the Islamic world. King Abdullah even sent Sharif back to Pakistan on a royal plane and provided a bulletproof black Mercedes to pick him up at the airport.

But Saudi support did not mean that the Musharraf-led government welcomed Sharif. In the day leading up to Sharif’s return, police arrested almost 4,000 supporters trying to make their way to the airport, said Ahsan Iqbal, spokesman of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party.

Regardless, tens of thousands of people made it to Lahore to welcome Sharif. Supporters pushed through police blockades and waved tiny cardboard cutouts of Sharif.

Outside the airport, supporters lined the streets, shot off fireworks and blocked traffic as Sharif went to an Islamic shrine, shaking hands along the way.

“It’s given us new energy, a new life,” Iqbal said. “We were leaderless. Our leadership was in exile. And we were the most targeted party in the country.”

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(c) 2007, Chicago Tribune.

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