Court ruling clears way for Sharif to become Pakistan’s premier again

Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Monday ruled that politicians convicted on moral charges cannot be disqualified for life, removing the last of the legal hurdles for former premier Nawaz Sharif to seek a record fourth term.

A seven-judge bench in the capital Islamabad overruled a six-year-old decision by their predecessors that had banned Sharif from holding public office for the rest of his life.

The chief justice announced the brief decision live on national television channels.

The Supreme Court had cut short Sharif's third term in power in 2017 and ordered he must not be allowed to contest an election again.

But a vague article of the constitution under which Sharif was disqualified was later done away with by parliament by fixing the maximum period of disqualification at five years.

Six out of seven judges argued the parliament's decision was supreme and held grounds over the court's ruling.

Sharif was later convicted on three separate graft charges by lower tribunals in 2018 and put in jail, but he was acquitted last year.

Sharif, who has ruled Pakistan three times but could never complete his term due to differences with the powerful army, is the front runner again, his party announced last month.

The 74-year-old is credited for ending power outages and building a web of highways to link the country with China, Afghanistan and Iran and ultimately to Central Asia and Europe.

Sharif was a key partner of China for President Xi Jinping’s flagship Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

He allowed Beijing access to the markets in the Middle East, Africa and Europe through overland and seas routes through Pakistan.