PAK PM SHARIF REJECTS GRAFT REPORT AS ‘SLANDER’, REFUSES TO QUIT

PANAMAGATE AFTERMATH Defiant premier says only people can remove him

ISLAMABAD: A defiant Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday rejected calls from the opposition to step down after a probe panel recommended the opening of an anti-graft case against him, saying only the people of Pakistan can remove him.

Sharif announced his decision while chairing an emergency meeting of his cabinet, which endorsed the move. “Should I resign on the demand of anti-democracy forces? Why should I resign, on what basis?” he was quoted as saying by state-run APP news agency.

The opposition has been demanding Sharif’s resignation since a Joint Investigation Team, appointed by the apex court to probe accusations of money laundering and concealing of wealth by the Sharif family, submitted its report on July 10. Media reports said the JIT concluded that the family’s assets exceeded its sources of income.

But Sharif contended that the “controversial” JIT had submitted a report “based on accusations and conjecture” that reflected “animosity and malice”. The report had not given “even a hint of any corruption or financial misappropriation”, he said.

Members of the cabinet sug- gested Sharif should fight a legal battle to vindicate himself in the case related to the Panama Papers leaks. The opposition began targeting Sharif as the documents revealed that the premier’s three children - including his heir apparent, daughter Maryam Nawaz - owned offshore assets worth millions of dollars.

Pointing to the opposition parties who have been demanding his resignation, Sharif said his PML-N party had bagged more votes than the opposition parties combined. “The people of Pakistan have elected me and only they can remove me from this post,” he said. While briefing the cabinet, Sharif said all the allegations made by the JIT in its report were in reference to his family’s business dealings. He added that his family “earned nothing after entering politics, but lost a lot”.

Projects worth billions of rupees were being executed in Pakistan and no evidence of corruption had been found in any of them, he said.

REUTERS Heir not apparent? Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, speaks to media after appearing before the joint panel probing the Panama Papers leaks.