Pakistan’s
Supreme Court, on Thursday, ordered further investigations into corruption
allegations leveled by the opposition against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif,
saying
there was insufficient evidence to order his removal from office.
The court
late last year launched an investigation into Sharif’s family’s offshore wealth
after opposition politicians threatened to launch street protests.
The
opposition accuses Sharif of failing to explain the source of money in offshore
companies owned by his children and of lying to parliament.
Sharif and
his family have denied wrongdoing.
On Wednesday
the Court’s decision that could disqualify Sharif over corruption allegations
had the country on edge, as a drawn-out investigation related to the “Panama
Papers” leaks neared a conclusion.
Disqualifying
Sharif would have left his party in power, but it would cause intense turmoil
at a time when Pakistan is experiencing modest growth and improved security
after years of violence, and the civilian government and powerful military have
appeared to come to uneasy terms.
Sharif has
denied any wrongdoing, but the Supreme Court agreed to investigate his family’s
offshore wealth late last year after opposition leader Imran Khan threatened
street protests.
Both the
government and opposition had expressed confidence on Wednesday.
“There is no
chance that decision will come against our leadership.
“Our
government and entire leadership are performing their duties as per routine,”
Talal Chaudhry a prominent leader of Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz told
Geo Television.
Naeem ul
Haque, a spokesman for Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) said he expected a
verdict against Sharif, but he made clear the opposition would not launch a new
street movement if they were disappointed.
“Imran Khan
has clearly stated that we will accept the decision of the Supreme Court, but
we believe that enough evidence has been presented to remove the prime minister
and that a verdict should be reached that is based on the evidence,” he said.
In 2014,
Khan led a months-long protest that paralyzed the government quarter in the
capital, Islamabad, after rejecting Sharif’s decisive election win a year
earlier.
The case
stems from documents leaked from the Panama-based Mossack Fonseca law firm appeared
to show that Sharif’s daughter and two sons owned offshore holding companies
registered in the British Virgin Islands and used them to buy properties in
London.
Sharif told
parliament in 2016 that his family wealth was acquired legally in the decades
before he entered politics and that no money was siphoned off-shore.
Khan,
however, has argued that the prime minister’s lawyers have changed stories on
the source of the offshore money several times and that it is up to Sharif to
prove the offshore companies were not used for money laundering.
Corruption
is endemic in Pakistan, which ranks a dismal 116th out of 176 in Transparency
International’s annual index of the world’s most graft-ridden countries. (NAN)
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