Islamabad: The opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Monday submitted a petition to the Supreme Court seeking the disqualification of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
The respondents nominated in the petition include the prime minister, his daughter, two sons, the National Accountability Bureau and the Federal Board of Revenue.
The PTI move is linked to controversy over disclosures in the Panama Papers scandal concerning offshore companies alleged owned by Sharif’s children.
PTI counsel Naeem Bukhari told reporters that the registrar of the Supreme Court will now decide if the petition is maintainable.
The petition has been filed ahead of a planned massive anti-government march by the PTI on September 3 in Lahore, capital of Punjab province, the power base of the ruling family.
The Lahore show will mark the climax of an ongoing anti-government public campaign by the PTI, which has held rallies addressed by Imran Khan this month in different cities in Punjab, the latest on Monday in its so-titled ‘accountability movement’ against alleged corruption on the part of leadership.
The PTI is in power in north-western Khyber Pakthtnkhwa province and is the second-largest opposition group in the National Assembly after the Pakistan People’s Party.
Imran Khan and other opposition leaders accuse Sharif and his family members of having transferred funds from Pakistan illegally to build assets abroad, an allegation strongly denied by the prime minister.
The ruling party blames the PTI leader for trying to create chaos out of a lust for power.
Sharif has countered, saying the people have rejected Khan’s negative politics and stand behind the government’s development-oriented agenda.
