Sindh against, Balochistan stands by PM

KP govt says resolution soon to ask Nawaz to step down

KARACHI: The Sindh Assembly on Friday unanimously passed a motion and a resolution calling upon Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to immediately resign as he had lost the moral authority to rule the country in the wake of the judgement of Supreme Court in the Panama Papers’ case where two senior judges declared that he was no more “Sadiq” and “Ameen”.

The motion against the prime minister was moved in the house by Sindh Parliamentary Affairs Minister Nisar Ahmed Khuhro while the resolution was moved by opposition lawmakers of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. In their speeches in the house, the concerned MPAs, both on treasury and opposition benches, levelled serious allegations against the prime minister including that he was no more an honest and trustworthy political leader who could be entrusted anymore the responsibilities to lead the nation and the government.

The motion of Nisar Khuhro stated: “This house is of the opinion that in light of the judgement passed by the honourable Supreme Court of Pakistan in the Panama Case, where in the two senior justices declared that the sitting prime minister is no Sadiq and Ameen and should be de-notified from public office. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif must immediately resign from office as he has lost the moral authority to lead this nation."

The resolution against the PM was moved by PTI’s legislators Khurrum Sher Zaman and Dr Seema Zia while it was read in the house by the party’s lawmaker Samar Ali Khan. The resolution stated: “This House demands in the wake of the Panama case judgement by the honourable justices of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on April 20, 2017 that Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif resign as the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

"None of the Honourable Justices of the Supreme Court be it the majority or minority gave the Prime Minister a clear clean chit. The judges in their remarks have noted that the Prime Minister and his family have not been completely honest regarding the explanation about their properties.

"This House strongly believes that Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has lost the moral authority to continue as Prime Minister of Pakistan and in the greater national interest should resign immediately”.

In his speech in the house, Nisar Khuhro said that the prime minister had lost the honour after the two senior judges in the bench, which heard the Panama Papers’ case, had declared that the PM was no more “Ameen” and “Sadiq” as he should be disqualified from holding public office as he had lied. He said that the rest of the three judges in the bench had in fact practically backed the judgement of the two judges as they even didn’t declare PM as a Ameen and Sadiq person. Instead, he said that the PM had been given the opportunity to appear before a Joint Investigation Team like other criminals.

He said that Pakistan had become a laughing stock for the rest of the world and faced isolation at the international level for the past nine to ten months since the Panama Papers scandal had come to the fore. He said that the PM had presented different and varying accounts of his case related to the Panama Papers, firstly when he spoke in the National Assembly, later in his address to the nation, and lastly when his lawyers appeared before the Supreme Court. He said that all these varying accounts of the case had been given despite that all the concerned quarters had known well since 1990-91 that who actually owned the flats in London.

He said that the lawyer of the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had declared the speech of PM in the National Assembly a “political speech” as giving such a statement was tantamount to ridiculing the nation.

Nisar Khuhro said that for such reasons, the motion had been moved in the house to demand the resignation of the prime minister as it had become the voice of entire Sindh.

Parliamentary party Leader of Opposition Muttahida Quami Movement Syed Sardar Ahmed said that the motion moved in the house was premature as the Supreme Court’s bench hearing the case in his majority judgement had allowed the PM to continue to act as the premier of the country.

Former Sindh chief minister Qaim Ali Shah said the motion moved in the house was quite normal and simplistic in nature as two judges included in the bench had declared that the PM was ineligible to hold any public office. While the rest of their three colleague judges did not in fact dissented from their (two judges’) viewpoint as instead of immediately disqualifying the PM, they stopped short of doing so till submission of the probe report by the JIT.

He said it was better for the PM to first step down and appear before the JIT as a normal citizen instead of appearing as an accused prime minister. He said that in the past, authorities had used to step down on accidents of even minor nature and it had become morally binding upon the PM to step down. He said that once resigned, Nawaz Sharif would be at liberty to assume again the office of PM once allegations against him were proved wrong as the prime minister enjoyed support of majority members of the National Assembly.

Mehtab Akbar Rashdi, a lawmaker of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League (Functional), said that she differed from the viewpoint that any sub-judiced matter could not be discussed while in this case a debate could be held on the issue as the judgement had been declared. She expressed amazement that sweets were being distributed by both the parties to the case as the plaintiffs and defendants in the case both were jubilant after the judgement. She said that it were the people of the country who were the ultimate sufferers in this case. She said the people had become disappointed again.

PTI’s Khurrum Sher Zaman expressed tributes to the leader of his party Imran Khan for exposing corrupt elements in the country. He said the PM should immediately step down in order to avoid doing contempt of nation any further.

Leader of the Opposition Khawaja Izharul Hassan said it would have been better if the motion moved in the house did contain the demand for action against people involved in corruption, money laundering, and similar other corrupt practices. He condemned the utterances by some of members of the house against honourable judges of the apex judiciary. He conceded that the judgement of the Supreme Court in the case did contain serious allegations against the PM. He said that accountability should be done on across the board basis of everyone without discrimination. For this cause, the institutions had to be strengthened. He said the day the prime minister and chief ministers assumed their offices in the country, they should express their resolve to wage a struggle against corruption. He alleged that chiefs of up to 90 per cent institutions were corrupt as they performed their functions for committing corruption. He said that public required resolution of their basic civic issues.

Our correspondent adds: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government spokesman Shah Farman has said that in light of the Supreme Court verdict on Panama Leakes case, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is going to pass a resolution in the assembly asking Nawaz Sharif to step down as prime minister.

According to a handout, the provincial government spokesperson welcomed the decision of Supreme Court in Panama leaks case, and advised Nawaz Sharif to resign as he had lost moral ground to hold the post as prime minister any more.

He said the resignation of Nawaz Sharif would enhance dignity of the country.

Shah Farman added that two senior most judges of the Supreme Court had declared that Nawaz Sharif was not Sadiq and Ameen that's a proof that Nawaz Sharif is a culprit and he is no more eligible to continue as prime minister.

Shah Farman said as Nawaz Sharif could not provide money trail of his illegal property and business to the Supreme Court.

He added in light of the Supreme Court verdict, the investigation of JIT could open all closed accounts and ex-crimes of Nawaz Sharif and his family that would be shameful for a person having the slot of prime minister that's why the entire opposition was forcing the PML-N head to resign forthwith.

Agencies add: The Balochistan Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution expressing full confidence in the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Friday.

Chief Minister Nawab Sanaullah Khan Zehri tabled the resolution in the House.

Speaking on the floor of the House, Nawab Sanaullah Zehri said they fully accepted the verdict of the Supreme Court in the Panama Leaks case and they would also wholeheartedly accept the report of the Joint Investigation Team constituted by the apex court in its verdict. Later, the session of the House was adjourned for an indefinite period.