agencies
Islamabad, July 28: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has resigned from the post after a five-judge bench of the supreme court of Pakistan in its verdict on the Panama Papers case delivered Friday, ordered him to step down.
The judges on the bench unanimously ruled that the Pakistani prime minister had been dishonest to the Parliament and the courts, and that he could not be deemed fit to hold office.
Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, who headed the three-judge implementation bench, said: “He is disqualified as a member of the Parliament so he has ceased to be holding the office of Prime Minister.” Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Captain Safdar, who is a Member of National Assembly (MNA), also stood disqualified from office.
Justice Khan said all material collected by the Joint Investigation Team would be sent to the National Accountability Court within six weeks and that cases would be opened against Maryam Nawaz (Sharif’s daughter), Captain Muhammad Safdar (Maryam’s husband), Hassan and Hussain Nawaz (PM Sharif’s sons) and Sharif himself. He added that a judgement should be announced within 30 days.
Further, the court has ordered the Election Commission to issue a notification stating Sharif’s disqualification. The verdict paves the way for 67-year-old Sharif’s tenure being cut short for the third time in his political career. And there is uncertainty over who will take his place till the next general elections, scheduled for 2018. Some reports suggest defence minister Khawaja Asif is likely to become the interim prime minister for 45 days. Nawaz’s brother Shahbaz, could take over from Asif if he wins a bypoll and gets a National Assembly berth.
The case against Sharif involved charges of money laundering in the 1990s, when he twice served as PM, to purchase assets in London. The assets surfaced when Panama Papers leak last year revealed they were managed through offshore companies owned by Sharif’s children. The assets include four expensive flats in London.
Sharif ‘nama’
> Known as ‘Lion of Punjab’, Nawaz Sharif has been prime minister of Pakistan thrice but never served full term
> Sharif became the first finance minister and then chief minister of Punjab (a post he held from 1985 until he was elected PM in 1990) under the patronage of former military ruler Zia-ul Haq
> International Consortium of Investigative Journalists disclosed that Sharif’s children — Maryam, Hassan and Hussain — were the beneficial owners of offshore companies set up in the British Virgin Islands, a known tax haven.
> In May, the Supreme Court had set up a
six-member joint investigation team (JIT) to investigate the charges against Sharif and family.
