Shehbaz demands ‘dishonest PM’ to leave office

Opposition leader says law used to convict Nawaz should also apply to PM Imran Khan

Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif on Friday demanded legal action and “daily court proceedings” against Prime Minister Imran Khan after a report of the Election Commission of Pakistan’s scrutiny committee said the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) hid millions of rupees worth of funds.

“A person who hides facts, steals, and lies, cannot hold constitutional, governmental or political office,” the PML-N president said in a statement shared by the party on Twitter.

After the report came to the fore in the media on Tuesday, PTI claimed it has not hidden anything from the ECP.

In his statement on Friday, Shehbaz asked that if the law could apply to a “popular leader like Nawaz Sharif, why not Imran Niazi?”

“If a Panama Papers JIT [Joint Investigation team] can be formed against Nawaz Sharif, and can be overseen by the honourable judges of the Supreme Court, then why this cannot be done for Imran Niazi?” he asked.

The opposition leader said that under the constitution of Pakistan and its laws, “no thief can be a prime minister”.

“Imran Niazi, who has been proven a thief and a liar under the law, must resign,” he added. “The ECP’s scrutiny committee has said that Imran Niazi is neither honest nor trustworthy,” he added.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president demanded that a probe be initiated against PM Khan and his case be heard on a daily basis – like against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

He said equal treatment under the constitution and law is a fundamental tenet of Pakistan’s laws and one that must be fulfilled. “The ECP’s scrutiny committee has charged Imran Niazi and his party under the law,” he said.

He said the country was operating “without a (real) prime minister”, and was being governed under a “constitutional and legal vacuum”.

“[Pakistan has] no leader of the parliament,” he said, adding, “Under the law and constitution, Imran Niazi cannot decide on the country’s affairs.”

He said that after the ECP scrutiny report, any decision made could not be considered constitutional or legal.