Karachi: Provincial Sindh assembly on Friday passed a resolution demanding Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif resign from his office and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) also vowed to kick-start a ‘Go Nawaz’ campaign for his ouster.
The resolution came a day after the Supreme Court of Pakistan handed down a split verdict over a corruption case against the prime minister, ordering a high profile investigation into the accusations.
Of the five-member bench with two Supreme Court judges, nevertheless, held the prime minister liable of telling lies to the Parliament and thus questioned his integrity under the Pakistani constitution, declaring him disqualified from office.
Meanwhile, opposition parties demanded the resignation of the prime minister claiming he did hold have moral ground to continue in office as the court had not cleared of him the charges of money laundering as well as holding millions of dollars property abroad.
The PPP tabled the resolution in the Sindh assembly today demanding Sharif’s resignation. Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), the opposition party in the provincial assembly welcomed the setting up of the joint investigation team, suggesting the resolution must stress on a blanket condemnation of widespread corruption and take measures against it. The PPP, which enjoys majority in the house, adopted the resolution.
The Supreme Court has cleared Sharif’s daughter, Maryam Nawaz in the case, a media report said on Friday.
Last year’s Panama Papers leaks alleged that Maryam was the owner of the London properties owned jointly with her brothers as well, Dawn online reported.
However, the Supreme Court bench late on Thursday concluded that sufficient material was not available on the record to establish that Maryam was a dependant of the Prime Minister, in a legal sense.
Meanwhile, Pakistani opposition party lawmakers tore up the agenda and shouted in a Parliament session on Friday as they demanded that Sharif step down during an investigation into his finances.
Opposition leader Imran Khan said he would lead protests demanding Sharif’s resignation, saying the prime minister had lost the moral authority to stay in office while being investigated.
On Friday, opposition lawmakers chanted slogans demanding Sharif’s resignation and tore up the assembly’s agenda for the day, before the speaker suspended the session, television footage showed.
“I was the petitioner in the case, the hearing continued for four months, at least I should have been allowed to speak in the Parliament,” Khan, a former cricket star, later told reporters outside the assembly.
