Khursheed Shah doesn’t see Nawaz Sharif returning to Pakistan in October

 ISLAMABAD, August 27 (SABAH): Despite the statement made by

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President and former prime minister Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan People’s Party’s  senior leader Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah has said that he does not see PML-N supremo Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif returning to Pakistan in October.

On Friday, after meeting his brother in London, Shehbaz Sharif had said that after consultations with the party’s senior leadership, it had been decided that Nawaz “will return to Pakistan in October”.

Shehbaz made the statement in response to a question about media reports suggesting that Nawaz would return to Pakistan in mid-October. However, in an interview with a private television channel earlier this month, Shehbaz had said Nawaz would return to Pakistan in September while other senior N-leaguers suggested the same.

In an interview with a private TV channel, Syed Khurshed Ahmed Shah said, “Nawaz Sharif has no plan to come [to Pakistan] right now. I don’t think so.” The PPP leader added, “His health is not good, he might not come.”

When the host cited Shehbaz Sharif’s recent statement, the former water minister asserted, “Indeed, he (Shehbaz) might have said so but I say that he is not well and even at the last moment, he can get unwell.”

Commenting on countrywide protests spurred by inflated electricity bills, Khursheed Shah rued that the previous coalition government could have reduced power prices by Rs3-4 per unit.

Khursheed Shah said that even now, the interim government could decrease public resentment by cutting down power prices by Rs10-15 per unit. “Even right now, if Rs10-15 are reduced … I think relief can be provided to the people,” he said.

When asked if he thought it was possible to do so as the suggested decrease was quite large, the former minister replied, “Yes, it can happen.”