Nawaz Sharif aims for fourth term as Pakistani PM

Former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif will seek a fourth term in office in elections scheduled for February, his party has said.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif made the announcement on Wednesday, saying his elder brother would be the party’s candidate.

“We are going into elections and I’m sure you will all work day and night to get Nawaz Sharif elected for the fourth time,” PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif told party members in Lahore.

Shehbaz said that the return of “our leader has breathed a new life into our party.”

The 73-year-old - who was never able to complete a five-year term – submitted nomination papers from his political bastion and hometown Lahore.

However, it is not yet clear whether he will be eligible to contest the February 8 national elections in the wake of a "life-long disqualification" from the Supreme Court.

Sharif served a little over nine years as premier in three separate terms but has spent around 11 years in exile during his political career since 1985.

He served as prime minister from 1990 to 1993, from 1997 to 1999 and from 2013 to 2017.

Khan, his predecessor and political rival, is in jail after his removal as premier on graft charges.

Both Sharif and Khan were removed after they fell out of favour with powerful generals in a country that was ruled by the army for decades.