The Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) has warned prime minister Nawaz Sharif to step down in seven days or announce to launch a countrywide campaign.
Addressing a press conference on Saturday, LHCBA President Zulfiqar Chaudhry, vice-president Rashid Lodhi, secretary Amir Saeed Raan and finance secretary Zaheer Butt presented their demand for the PM’s resignation.
The move comes days after the Supreme Court announced the Panama Papers case verdict on April 20 and that there wasn’t enough evidence to disqualify the premier but that he and his sons, Hasan and Hussain Nawaz, will have to appear before a joint investigation team (JIT). The team is to be formed in seven days and furnish its report to the apex court within two months.
“If the prime minister does not step down within a week, we will launch a nationwide movement which will be bigger than the lawyers’ movement for restoration of the deposed judges,” Chaudhry said.
“Throughout the world, public office holders implicated in the Panama [Papers] scandal have relinquished their posts, but the prime minister is adamant to stay in power,” he complained, emphasising that the bar association’s demand for PM’s resignation was legitimate and fair.
“How can officers under the PM conduct a fair investigation into the PM’s alleged corruption?” asked Chaudhry.
Rashid Lodhi, vice president of the bar association said: “This is the first time such a high-profile case of corruption went up to the Supreme Court and some pertinent questions were raised by the court regarding the PM’s money-trail. These questions can not be put ignored.”
He said the apex court has rejected the prime minister’s claims, and for that reason, Sharif has lost the moral authority to stay in power.
