Dubai: Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf on Sunday urged Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to tender his resignation as the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) in the Panama Papers case is all set to submit its report to the Supreme Court.
Speaking to Gulf News on the sidelines of a keynote speech at the Security Managers Professional Management Training Institute (SMPMTI) in Dubai, Gen Musharraf said the prime minister of Pakistan should have put in his papers long back in wake of the daily aspersions and slander that his office has to endure.
“Supreme Court of Pakistan appointed the JIT after opposition parties demanded probe against the premier. It would have been far better if Nawaz Sharif had stepped down until the probe was over,” the former president said.
Last year, the so-called Panama Papers revealed that three of Sharif’s children owned offshore companies and expensive assets not shown on his family’s wealth statement.
During his interaction in the keynote with leaders in academia, geo-political analysts and security experts, Musharraf touched upon the importance of the multi-billion dollars China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
“[The] CPEC is going to be the fruition of a vision that we all should aim to be part of. When I was in power I initiated and promoted the Gwadar port project. Fast forward to 2017, be it the benefits or workforce in CPEC related projects, I would like to see more Pakistanis benefitting from this economic corridor.”
Reiterating his position of returning to Pakistan, Musharraf said a “grand political alliance” was very much on cards. “Pakistan needs a third front and that is where I see the All Pakistan Muslim League (APML), coming together with like-minded parties [Awami League Sunni Ittehad Council, Muttahida Wahdadat-i-Muslimeen, Muslim League-Junejo and Pakistan Mazdoor Ittehad among others] to offer a credible and reliable alternative in the country’s fractured polity,” Musharraf said.
