Nawaz Sharif

"I will only say this about the issue, that it is all baseless speculation," he said. "If someone speaks about such a matter, I would request you to ask them who is striking a deal. What are the specifics? What is the evidence that someone is out to make a deal," Iftikhar asked. He said there is no such thing going on and reiterated that if someone does talk of it, they must be asked for details.

Responding to Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid's statement that Khan would complete his tenure, PML-N Punjab President Rana Sanaullah maintained that the mere mention of Nawaz Sharif's possible return to the country had sent "alarm bells ringing" for the incumbent government.

PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif, who is also the former premier's brother, categorically said that Nawaz Sharif will not return until he has fully recovered. In a statement issued on Saturday, Shehbaz Sharif said that Nawaz Sharif might stay in the UK legally until the immigration tribunal rules on his appeal against the British Home Office's rejection for extending his visa.

The former prime minister made these remarks at the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz's (PML-N) general meeting held in Lahore. He attended the meeting virtually through a video link from London. He is currently getting treated for a heart condition in London. However, former speaker of National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has hinted that Sharif is expected to return to Pakistan 'very soon'.

In an interview to Al Jazeera, Khan said Pakistan was rich in resources but the Bhutto and Sharif families used them unfairly. He said his government wanted Pakistan to become a prosperous country and was fighting against the two super-rich families. The Prime Minister further alleged that the two families were working to set up their dynasties in Pakistan and were responsible for the present mess the country is in, the report said.

Nisar indicates that he was issuing the instructions as the Generals want to bring Imran Khan to power. The revelation has come as a bombshell and is bound to add to the political turmoil in Pakistan in the days ahead. According to the transcript of the leaked audio clip, released by the UK-based investigative news website FactFocus.com, the conversation took place between the then Chief Justice of Pakistan SC and one unidentified person in 2018 before the general elections of Pakistan.

The decision of the Home Department prompted the incumbent Imran Khan government to offer the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo to arrange his return to Pakistan at a notice of 24 hours if he is willing, said the Dawn news report. "As long as the treatment of Sharif is not completed and doctors do not allow him travel he will remain in the UK," she said.