# Pakistan court rules exiled former PM Nawaz Sharif can come home **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 23, 2007, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pakistan-court-rules-exiled-former-pm-nawaz-sharif-can-come-home/416652 "2007-08-23T16:21:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2007, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pakistan-court-rules-exiled-former-pm-nawaz-sharif-can-come-home/416652/1 "2007-08-23T16:21:26Z")
Story [here.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/23/AR2007082300537.html?hpid=artslot) This is the prime minister Pervez Musharraf ousted in a military coup in 1999. New elections are scheduled for this fall; Sharif is expected to emerge as Musharraf’s main rival. So, what does this mean for Pakistan? And for America’s relations with Pakistan? Recent GD threads on Pakistan: [Obama says he might, as POTUS, sent troops into Pakistan without Musharraf’s leave](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=431237) [Is Pakistan Next?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=429509) [Protest in Pakistan over Musharraf’s removal of chief justice](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=415074) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2007, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pakistan-court-rules-exiled-former-pm-nawaz-sharif-can-come-home/416652/2 "2007-08-23T16:38:04Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Story [here.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/23/AR2007082300537.html?hpid=artslot) This is the prime minister Pervez Musharraf ousted in a military coup in 1999. New elections are scheduled for this fall; Sharif is expected to emerge as Musharraf’s main rival. So, what does this mean for Pakistan? And for America’s relations with Pakistan? [/QUOTE] What do you think? ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2007, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pakistan-court-rules-exiled-former-pm-nawaz-sharif-can-come-home/416652/3 "2007-08-23T17:08:11Z")
We will probably invade and conquere Pakistan next, and then move on to take over the entire ME, putting them firmly under our collective boots and using their peasantry for firewood. Then we shall gather up all the baby ducks and push them cruelly into ponds full of crocs…just for fun. Or not. Its hard to say. What do you think BG? -XT ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2007, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pakistan-court-rules-exiled-former-pm-nawaz-sharif-can-come-home/416652/4 "2007-08-23T17:53:37Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] What do you think? [/QUOTE] I think Sharif’s homecoming, combined with Chief Justice Chaudhry’s stance that Musharraf cannot run for another term, combined with the unraveling of the “mosque-military alliance” that has underpinned Musharraf’s rule, will precipitate a constitutional crisis in which it will be impossible for Musharraf to hold on to power; but I have no idea what will come after him, or whether Pakistan will even survive as a united country. Pashtun and Balochi separatists might seize the opportunity to break away. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2007, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pakistan-court-rules-exiled-former-pm-nawaz-sharif-can-come-home/416652/5 "2007-08-23T18:23:40Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] I think Sharif’s homecoming, combined with Chief Justice Chaudhry’s stance that Musharraf cannot run for another term, combined with the unraveling of the “mosque-military alliance” that has underpinned Musharraf’s rule, will precipitate a constitutional crisis in which it will be impossible for Musharraf to hold on to power; but I have no idea what will come after him, or whether Pakistan will even survive as a united country. Pashtun and Balochi separatists might seize the opportunity to break away. [/QUOTE] That doesn’t square well with the article you linked to. It’s unclear that there will be a “homecoming”, and if there is, the guy might well be thrown in jail. And this “constitutional crisis”… is it going to happen between now and the fall elections? It’s quite possible that Musharraf will simply be voted out of office. I wouldn’t call Pakistan a “united country” right now. As for the Pashtuns, they don’t need to break away-- they’re already de facto broken away in the Federally Administered Tribal areas. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pakistan-court-rules-exiled-former-pm-nawaz-sharif-can-come-home/416652/6 "2007-08-29T22:27:14Z")
Update: [Musharraf may, in advance of the election, resign as head of the military.](http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=9824) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pakistan-court-rules-exiled-former-pm-nawaz-sharif-can-come-home/416652/7 "2007-09-10T16:07:33Z")
Update: Sharif returned to Pakistan today, [and was immediately arrested and deported to Saudi Arabia.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/10/AR2007091000119.html?hpid=topnews) ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pakistan-court-rules-exiled-former-pm-nawaz-sharif-can-come-home/416652/8 "2007-09-10T16:40:51Z")
Well, that was unexpected. I’d’ve thought they’d just shoot him at the airport.