Former Pakistani premier Sharif is re-elected as his party’s president as it now rules the country

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan’s former premier Nawaz Sharif was re-elected president of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-N party on Tuesday. He last held the position in 2017, when he was forced out of office amid corruption allegations.

The PML-N came into power with the Feb. 8 elections that Sharif’s key rival, former premier Imran Khan, alleged were rigged. Sharif’s younger brother, Shehbaz Sharif, now leads a coalition government and Sharif is a member of Parliament.

Nawaz Sharif was ousted from power in 2017 when the Supreme Court disqualified him from holding any public office over concealing financial assets, a charge Sharif denies. His conviction and sentences were overturned last year, allowing him to hold any public or party office.

Sharif returned to Pakistan in October from self-imposed exile in London, where he went in 2019 for medical treatment when Khan was in power.

Khan was ousted through a no-confidence vote in 2002 and is serving multiple prison terms.