Breaking! Nawaz Sharif Disqualified!

Mikesingh

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It's the end of the road for Nawaz Sharif! News coming out right now.

All five judges of the Supreme Court have disqualified Nawaz Sharif in the Panamagate scandal. Who will be the next PM? Martial Law? This was clearly an indirect coup by the Pak Army/ISI.

And what will be the effect on Indo-Pak relations?

It seems chaos will reign in Pakistan for quite some time.
 
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Kshatriya87

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It's the end of the road for Nawaz Sharif! News coming out right now.

All five judges of the Supreme Court have disqualified Nawaz Sharif in the Panamagate scandal. Who will be the next PM? Martial Law? This was clearly an indirect coup by the Pak Army/ISI.

And what will be the effect on Indo-Pak relations?

It seems chaos will reign in Pakistan for quite some time.
Next PM Shahbaz .
 

Mikesingh

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Fingers crossed for Martial law. The charade of "Pakistan is democracy" will be over and world at this moment is not being particularly kind to dictators.

Better yet, let Taliban sympathiser ImRAWn Khan take charge.
Martial law may not be an alternative due to the Kerry Luger Bill which clearly says aid will only be released on certification that the military is not subverting Pakistan’s political and judicial processes, meaning no martial law. They will be liable for sanctions too.

The Paki Army in any case has been ruling the roost since Pak's independence. Democracy in Pak is just a sham. The so called elected representatives are just puppets on a string controlled by the Army. So why should they declare martial law and shoot themselves in the foot?
 

Mikesingh

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'Credit goes to PTI': Opposition reacts to PM's disqualification

Opposition party politicians were elated as the Supreme Court disqualified Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a landmark decision on the Panama Papers case Friday.

The apex court had in April declared there was “insufficient evidence” to oust Sharif over the graft allegations engulfing his family, and ordered a six-member investigation team to probe the matter.

The team of civilian and military investigators found there was a “significant disparity” between the Sharif family's income and lifestyle in its scathing report.

Here's how politicians reacted:

PTI's Shah Mehmood Qureshi
PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi while addressing the press soon after the judgement, said: “It’s a historic day, let's strengthen Pakistan, let's get rid of terrorism from the country. Let us take this moment to express gratitude to the armed forces, police and other law enforcement agencies. We should also thank the JIT members for not succumbing to the enormous pressure and serving the cause of justice.”

PPP's Qamar Zaman Kaira
PPP leader Qamar Zaman Kaira said: “The judgement came it was expected. It was on the cards for long.” All the opposition parties played their part in this, but the credit does go to PTI and Imran Khan for taking this issue to court and fighting this long legal battle.

PTI's Jehangir Tareen
Prominent PTI leader Tareen said, "Real Justice has been served. History has been written. People had lost hope that accountability will ever happen but Imran was the only person who believed and today's decision is a victory for PTI and the nation."

"We are going to Bani Gala where we will pray shukrana (thanksgiving) prayers. We will keep playing our part for Pakistan and democracy. This is the best time for democracy. I congratulate everyone."

JI's Siraj ul Haq
The leader of the Jamaat-i-Islami, Sirajul Haq said, "We are very weak but on August 24, 2016, I became the first petitioner. People made fun of me but today we are leaving with success in the Supreme Court. I want to congratulate the apex court, journalists, lawyers and political workers who supported us."

"After me other political parties also came forward and stood with us, I want to thank them all."

https://www.dawn.com/news/1348195/credit-goes-to-pti-opposition-reacts-to-pms-disqualification

 

Screambowl

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Sharif has stepped down, the government has not.
He remains the direct controller of PMO just like Sonia Gandhi held the PMO.

Chaos can happen if PMLN creates ruckus.
 

lcafanboy

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Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif resigns over Panama Papers verdict




Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image captionPakistan's Supreme Court recommended an anti-corruption case against Mr Sharif
Nawaz Sharif has resigned as prime minister of Pakistan following a decision by the country's Supreme Court to disqualify him from office.

The ruling came after a probe into his family's wealth following the 2015 Panama Papers dump linking Mr Sharif's children to offshore companies.


Mr Sharif has consistently denied any wrongdoing in the case.

The five judges reached a unanimous verdict in the Islamabad court, which was filled to capacity.

"Following the verdict, Nawaz Sharif has resigned from his responsibilities as prime minister," a spokesman for Mr Sharif's office said in a statement.

There was heightened security in the capital, with tens of thousands of troops and police deployed.

One of the judges, Ejaz Afzal Khan, said that Mr Sharif was no longer "eligible to be an honest member of the parliament".

Pakistan's Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan earlier advised Mr Sharif to accept Friday's verdict.

The court has recommended anti-corruption cases against several individuals, including Mr Sharif, his daughter Maryam and her husband Safdar, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and others.


Opening the gates of power?
By M Ilyas Khan, BBC News, Islamabad

Pakistan has repeated history. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is resigning. He was the 18th prime minister of Pakistan. Not a single one of the 17 prime ministers that preceded him have completed their full term in office.

Many believe that the Supreme Court has started a process of cracking down on corruption, which augurs well for democracy. Others see this as part of a long history of political manipulation through which the country's powerful military establishment has sought to control civilian decision-making.

The case hearings - spread over nearly 15 months - have been marred by controversy. The case belongs in a criminal court. The Supreme Court, which is an appellate body, initially refused to hear it. But then it not only admitted the petition for hearing, it also took the unusual step of instituting its own investigation into the case, with a dominant role for military intelligence services.

Many believe that while across-the-board action against corruption may remain a pipe dream, this verdict will open the gates of power for a new set of politicians - as has often happened in the past.


Mr Sharif, who was serving as prime minister for a record third time, was less than a year away from becoming the first in Pakistani history to complete a full term in office.

He served as prime minister from November 1990 to July 1993 and from February 1997 until he was toppled in a bloodless coup in October 1999.

Image copyrightREUTERS
Image captionOpposition supporters erupted in applause as the verdict was announced
Image copyrightEPA
Image captionHead of the Jamaat-e-Islami group, Siraj ul Haq (left), shares sweets with opposition supporters
Allegations of corruption have dogged Mr Sharif since the 1980s. And much of what the Panama Papers revealed was the subject of a federal inquiry in the mid-1990s.

What happens next?
It is not immediately clear who will succeed Mr Sharif, but his brother Shehbaz, who is chief minister of Punjab province, is seen as a strong contender for the job.

Pakistan's ruling party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), will be permitted by the speaker of the National Assembly to select an interim prime minister to rule until the 2018 general election.

The PML-N, which has the most seats in parliament, is expected to deliver a statement later on Friday.

Opposition parties will also have the opportunity to put forward their own candidates for the position.

Meanwhile, the court has directed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to compile and send four references to accountability courts against Mr Sharif and others before the proposed anti-corruption investigations.

NAB has been directed to file these references within six weeks. The accountability courts have been directed to complete hearings in these cases in six months.

What did the Panama Papers reveal?
The leaks in April 2016 revealed that three of Mr Sharif's children owned offshore companies and assets not shown on his family's wealth statement.


The companies were allegedly used to channel funds to acquire foreign assets, including some apartments along Park Lane in London's Mayfair area.

The insinuation that the companies were meant to hide or launder ill-gotten wealth or to avoid taxes called Mr Sharif's credentials into question.

What is the mood in Pakistan?
Local media on Friday showed crowds assembled outside the Supreme Court in Islamabad cheering the court's verdict.

As the verdict was announced, opposition supporters erupted in applause, rushing into the street chanting slogans and handing out sweets, according to reports.

The vice-chairman of the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) party, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, called it an "historic day" and praised the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) for "not succumbing to the enormous pressure and serving the cause of justice."

The verdict was announced amid heightened security in the capital, with about 3,000 armed police and members of the Pakistan Rangers paramilitary force deployed near and around the Supreme Court.

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image captionThere was a large security presence outside Pakistan's Supreme Court ahead of the ruling
The ruling represents the peak of a drama that has fuelled news coverage and social media debates for months, attracting both scorn and ridicule as well as trenchant support for the prime minister.

The divisions fall largely along party lines but amid the febrile accusations, many have also expressed concerns over Pakistan's political culture.

The Wikipedia profile of the prime minister has also been littered with obscenities and accusations.

Mr Sharif is not the first prime minister to lose his position following the leaking of documents from the Panamanian law firm.

Iceland's prime minister was forced to resign after documents appeared to reveal that he and his wife concealed millions of dollars' worth of investments in an offshore company.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-40750671
 

lcafanboy

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Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan Is Ordered Removed


By SALMAN MASOODJULY 28, 2017

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The charges against Mr. Sharif and three of his children — two sons and a daughter — stemmed from disclosures last year in the Panama Papers, which revealed that the children owned expensive residential property in London through a string of offshore companies.

In their unanimous verdict on Friday, the justices declared that Mr. Sharif was not “honest” and that he therefore was “disqualified to be a member of the Parliament.” They also ordered the opening of criminal investigations against the Sharif family.

Photo

Opponents of Mr. Sharif leaving the Supreme Court in Islamabad on Friday. CreditCaren Firouz/Reuters
Imran Khan, the opposition politician who has been spearheading the campaign against Mr. Sharif since he took power in 2013, stands to gain the most politically from the removal of Mr. Sharif. Mr. Khan has doggedly and almost obsessively led the charge against Mr. Sharif and rallied a wide swath of the public against him through a mix of street agitation and court petitions.


The Supreme Court had asked the members of the Sharif family to provide a paper trail of the money they used to buy their London apartments. Investigators found that they were “living beyond their means.”

Despite repeated court exhortations, Mr. Sharif’s family and its lawyers failed to provide satisfactory documentation, the justices said. Several of the documents they produced were declared fake or insufficient.

A representative of the governing party said that Mr. Sharif was stepping down because of the court verdict. But the party expressed “strong reservations” over the ruling and said it was contemplating “all legal and constitutional means” to challenge it, the representative added in a statement.

Mr. Sharif has called the inquiry into his family’s finances a conspiracy and has asserted that in his three terms as prime minister he has not been tarred by a major corruption scandal. He repeatedly rebuffed calls to resign and said that he had done no wrong.

The ruling, while expected, leaves unanswered the long-term fate of the man who has been a dominating force in Pakistani politics for the better part of three decades.

“I did not expect Nawaz Sharif to go scot-free,” said Hasan Askari Rizvi, a prominent political analyst who is based in Lahore.

IN AND OUT OF POWER IN PAKISTAN
Nawaz Sharif served as prime minister an unprecedented three times. All his terms were cut short. Here’s how they played out.



  • First term
    In 1990, Mr. Sharif was ushered into power as head of the Pakistan Muslim League. As his family business grew, suspicions of corruption and mismanagement surfaced. He was dismissed by President Ghulam Ishaq Khan in 1993. The Supreme Court eventually deemed his dismissal unconstitutional, but Mr. Sharif later resigned under pressure from Pakistan’s powerful military.
  • Second term
    Mr. Sharif was elected again in 1997. Just over two years later, a military coup ended his term after he fired the army chief, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, and then, according to reports, kept the general’s return flight to Pakistan from landing. Troops loyal to General Musharraf seized the Karachi airport and overthrew the prime minister. Mr. Sharif was tried and found guilty of hijacking and terrorism and sentenced to life in prison.
  • Third term
    After spending seven years in exile in a deal brokered by the Saudi royal family, Mr. Sharif returned to Pakistan in 2007. He was later cleared of criminal charges and deemed eligible to run for office. Mr. Sharif was again elected prime minister in 2013, but he was met with opposition and faced large protests in 2014. He was tried on corruption charges after the 2016 Panama Papers revealed that his children owned expensive homes in London through a string of offshore companies.



“If he has a long-term vision, he will sit back and guide his political party,” Mr. Rizvi added. “He and his supporters will portray the court verdict as victimization and a grave conspiracy involving international powers.”

Mr. Sharif’s removal from office throws his political succession plans into disarray. His daughter Maryam Nawaz Sharif, who was being groomed as his political heir, was also implicated in the case.

Political insiders say there are several possible contenders to replace Mr. Sharif: Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, the speaker of the national assembly; Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, the minister of petroleum; Khurram Dastgir Khan, the commerce minister; and Khawaja Muhammad Asif, the defense minister.

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“Whoever they bring will be a weak prime minister, as Nawaz Sharif would want to have someone who is more or less in line with his thinking,” Mr. Rizvi said.

Mr. Khan’s supporters had laid siege to the Parliament and other government buildings in 2014 after accusing Mr. Sharif of rigging the 2013 general elections. Another attempt to blockade the capital in 2016 was unsuccessful, but it forced the Supreme Court justices to take up the Panama Papers case.


After the Supreme Court reserved judgment on the case on July 21, Mr. Khan on Wednesday urged the court to announce a verdict without delay.

“The whole country is at a standstill due to the Panama Papers case,” Mr. Khan said. Critics said Mr. Khan was pressuring the courts.

Photo

Security outside the Supreme Court and Parliament in Islamabad on the day of the ruling.CreditB.K. Bangash/Associated Press
Political analysts say the court verdict hands Mr. Khan an undeniable political and moral victory.

Imran Khan will be strengthened, but it remains to be seen how he capitalizes in Punjab Province, which is critical to winning the general elections,” Mr. Rizvi said. Punjab, the most populous and prosperous of the country’s four provinces, has remained a stronghold of Mr. Sharif for decades.


Mr. Sharif presided over a period of relative economic stability and was able to complete a few large infrastructure projects while reducing the crippling power outages that have long afflicted Pakistan.

But the stubborn scandal over the London real estate holdings sullied the reputation of the family.

Mr. Sharif’s political party nonetheless hopes that his achievements can bring it another electoral success next year even if Mr. Sharif cannot run for office. Mr. Sharif is expected to campaign for his party.

During his current tenure, Mr. Sharif had an uneven relationship with the powerful military. His overtures of more openness toward India, Pakistan’s longtime foe, backfired as generals spurned his efforts.

More recently, relations with the military took a darker turn after news reports detailed how civilian officials confronted the military over what they called a failure to act against Islamist groups. Mr. Sharif had to fire his information minister and two top aides to placate the army.


Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party, said the Panama Papers ruling was “a real test of our system.”

Some predicted a politically volatile time ahead.

“Until the elections, this will lead to a period of political instability,” Amber Rahim Shamsi, a prominent journalist who hosts a show on Dawn TV, said of the verdict.

“The Sharif political dynasty has somehow managed to survive Pakistan’s rough and bloody politics for over three and a half decades through wheeling and dealing,” Ms. Shamsi said. “It is hard to imagine all the family falling like a pack of cards. Nawaz Sharif has a following and could cash in on political martyrdom to stage a comeback.”


https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/28/world/asia/pakistan-prime-minister-nawaz-sharif-removed.html
 

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