Former Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif delivers first televised address in three years despite ban

Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, 72, who has been living in exile in the United Kingdom, is banned by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) over his status as a convict and absconder

Pakistan's former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has held his first televised address in three years despite a ban on his speeches after being named as a proclaimed absconder, in a move that appears to be softening of the stand by the government run by his brother, a media report said on Tuesday.

Mr. Sharif, 72, who has been living in exile in the United Kingdom after going to the country under the pretext of medical treatment in 2019, is banned by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) over his status as a convict and absconder.

The three-time prime minister, the elder brother of Premier Shahbaz Sharif, on Sunday delivered a short speech to make an impassioned appeal for aid as floods wreak havoc across the country. In the speech, he urged the people to help those in need.

Mr. Sharif, whose Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party currently leads the coalition government in the National Assembly, was declared a fugitive by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on June 24 last year for consistently avoiding court appearances in corruption-related cases.

Prior to this, he was serving the 10-year and 7-year sentences handed down to him in two corruption cases — Avenfield and Al-Azizia. While the high court suspended Sharif's jail sentence in the Avenfield case, the PML-N supremo secured bail in the other case on health grounds, paving the way for his departure from the country.

Although he was granted a four-week leave, which could be conditionally extendable, not much has been revealed about his medical treatment during the past few years.

Recently, Federal Minister Javed Latif, Chairman Standing Committee on Information, Broadcasting, National History and Literary Heritage, denounced the media ban on Mr. Sharif's speeches.