After Sharif's return to Pakistan from exile in 2007, Abbasi joined him by defeating PPP candidate Ghulam Murtaza Satti who secured 77,978 votes. After the formation of a coalition government between PPP and PML-N with Yousaf Raza Gillani as Prime Minister, Abbasi was inducted into the federal cabinet of Gillani with the status of a federal minister in March 2008 and was appointed as the Minister for Commerce. However, he resigned as Minister for Commerce after the PML-N left the PPP-led coalition government in May 2008 to lead the movement to impeach Pervez Musharraf and to restore the judiciary after the coalition failed to restore the judiciary, as agreed between PML-N and PPP in the Bhurban Accord. Abbasi was reported to have held the cabinet portfolio of Defence Production during his short-lived tenure as Commerce Minister, a claim later proved to be untrue.