Islamabad: Nawaz Sharif resigned on Friday as Pakistan’s prime minister shortly after the Supreme Court disqualified him for long allegations of corruption.
A spokesman for Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said the prime minister has resigned despite having reservations about the court order that he disqualified from serving.
In a brief statement, Sharif’s office said that “Sharif resigned as prime minister after learning that the Supreme Court disqualified him on charges of corruption.”
The statement states that justice has not been done with Sharif, but the prime minister has given up showing his respect for the judiciary and the rule of law.
“He is disqualified as a member of parliament for having ceased to hold the position of prime minister,” Judge Ejaz Afzal Khan told the crowded courtroom.
Together with the prime minister of Pakistan, the apex court also disqualified Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in case of graft from Panama.
The court also called on the national anti-corruption office to launch a new investigation into allegations against Sharif, which stem from the Panama Papers leak last year linking the prime minister’s family to lucrative offshore businesses.
No Pakistani PM has completed a full five-year term.
Most have seen how their mandate was interrupted by powerful military or Supreme Court interference. Others have been expelled by their own party, forced to resign or killed.
It is the second time in Pakistan’s 70-year history that the Supreme Court has disqualified a serving prime minister.
In 2012, then Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani was disqualified on charges of contempt of court for refusing to reopen a corruption case against President Asif Ali Zardari.
The Supreme Court’s non-ceremonial end to Sharif’s term represents a third-time record that has been ousted as a leader before completing his term.
In 1993 he was dismissed by the then president on graft allegations, while in 1999 he was ousted in a military coup.
