Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Maryam Nawaz on Sunday announced that she and her father, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, will land in Lahore on their return to Pakistan.
“We will land in Lahore in a few days,” Maryam said while speaking to the media in London.
The former premier’s daughter vowed, “We will lead the struggle for democracy in Pakistan.”
“We will sacrifice for the benefit of the nation and the generations to come,” she said.
“No matter what they do, voters cannot be stopped,” she asserted.
The PML-N supremo's daughter further said, “The movement to 'respect the vote' has reached a decisive phase.”
In a veiled reference to former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf, Maryam said, "Some people use back ache as an excuse to flee abroad."
"There are also some leaders who preferred fleeing Pakistan to escape punishment," she further upheld.
Stating that the "nation is behind Mian Sb", Maryam said, "Mian Sb is the first leader who is set to return to Pakistan to face his sentence."
Maryam's announcement came after PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif chaired a high-level party huddle in Model Town to finalise a future course of action in light of party supremo Nawaz's return to the country.
The meeting decided that the father-daughter duo should land in Lahore upon their return, sources said.
While speaking to media in London earlier on Saturday, Maryam had said she and her father would return to Pakistan on Friday — before the 10-day deadline for an appeal against the decision ends.
The father-daughter duo was sentenced on Friday to 11 and eight years in prison and slapped £8-million and £2-million fines, respectively, in relation to the Avenfield properties reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) last year. Moreover, Nawaz's son-in-law, Capt (retd) Safdar, received a one-year prison sentence.
NAB officials have said they have obtained the necessary warrants in this regard and will arrest the duo when they land.
