Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will run for a fourth term, his party says

Ex Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif will seek a fourth term in office, his party said on Wednesday, noting that he would be the consensus candidate in the upcoming parliamentary elections and for the post of prime minister.

Sharif, a three-time prime minister, returned to Pakistan in October after four years in self-imposed exile in London to avoid serving prison time on corruption charges.

However, his conviction and sentences were overturned on appeal after his return, giving him the right to run for a seat in parliament, which will elect a new prime minister after a vote on 8 February.

“There is no doubt about it. Nawaz Sharif is our prime ministerial candidate,” said Rana Sanaullah Khan, a senior leader of Sharif's party.

Sharif stepped down as prime minister in 2017 amid corruption allegations. In July 2018, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for buying luxury apartments in London. In December of that year, he was sentenced to seven years in prison for failing to disclose how his family set up steel mills in 1999.

Sharif's main rival, Imran Khan, is now serving a prison term, but he also declared his intention to participate in the elections. Khan was removed from power in a no-confidence vote in April 2022, but he remains a leading figure and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party has a large following.