Sheikh Rasheed to request SC to summon PM for cross-examination
'For the sake of this country, I ask Nawaz Sharif to step down. He has lost all moral, political and legal authority to rule'
July 11, 2017
RAWALPINDI: Awami Muslim League (AML) President Sheikh Rasheed on Tuesday announced he would request the Supreme Court to summon Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for cross-examination in the Panama Papers probe.
Addressing a press conference in Rawalpindi on Tuesday, Rasheed renewed calls for the premier's resignation in the aftermath of the damning Panama case Joint Investigation Team (JIT) report and stressed that the premier had lost all grounds to rule.
“For the sake of this country, I ask Nawaz Sharif to step down. He has lost all moral, political and legal authority to rule. [This situation] has resulted in a political funeral for him and his family,” the AML leader remarked.
Rasheed called on the prime minister to surrender to the law or risk facing imprisonment.
“If Nawaz Sharif does not bow down to the law, he should get ready to go to prison. His entire family has been dragged through the mud due to his stubbornness to stick to power. He has even destroyed his daughter’s political future,” Rasheed said.
“Nawaz Sharif’s agenda is to wage war against the judiciary and military. He and his family are trying hard to find an unconstitutional way out of this saga,” he continued.
Rasheed also brought up mention of Sheikh Saeed, calling him “the frontman of Sharif family in Switzerland” as he discussed alleged tampering of official records by the SECP chairman.
Calling the Panama case “historic”, the AML leader said the judges and Grade 18 and 19 officers proved that justice still prevails.
“In the future no politician would dare to loot the country, because they would know that even Grade 18 and 19 officers can send them to prison. I had talked about victory of law and political funeral of the Sharif family. Now I stand vindicated,” he added.
Rasheed claimed that PML-N has only 40 to 41 assembly members left. He further said there are 62 PML-N members who were friends of Musharraf, including eight ministers, and invited them back.
The JIT, in its final probe report into the Sharif family’s assets, held that the prime minister and his three children — Maryam, Hussain and Hasan — have accumulated wealth beyond their own known sources of income.
The next hearing of the case is on July 17.
Even though the government has rejected the report, and vowed to challenge it ‘point by point’ in the Supreme Court next week, both PTI and PPP have called on the prime minister to step down from his post.
