Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today convened an emergency cabinet meeting to develop a strategy to counter the condemnatory report by the Panama probe panel that recommended the filing of a graft case against him and his family.
The prime minister is expected to seek Cabinet endorsement in the form of a resolution or statement, in addition to informing members about the party’s strategy to challenge the Joint Investigation Team’s report in the Supreme Court, official sources said.
The six-member JIT that analyzed the Sharif family business in its 10-volume report to the special court on July 10 recommended that a corruption case be brought against Mr. Sharif and his sons Hassan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz Como Daughter Maryam Nawaz, under the 1999 ordinance of the National Accountability Office (NAB).
The decision to convene the cabinet was made during an “informal meeting” at the Prime Minister’s home, attended by members of Sharif’s cabinet and his legal team, including Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf Ali.
All major opposition political parties asked him to resign and stay out of power until his name was cleared.
However, Mr. Sharif is not ready to quit and his daughter Maryam confirmed it in a tweet.
“Insh’Allah will not resign because no single charge of misuse of public money has been tried for five terms in power against him,” she tweeted.
Mr. Sharif is serving the prime minister for an unprecedented third time before serving twice as Prime Minister of Punjab in the 1980s.
