‘Panamagate’ probe report jolts Pakistan

Asking Prime Minister Sharif to stand trial on corruption charges will be damaging for the office

The final report on the Panamagate filed by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT), constituted by the Supreme Court of Pakistan to probe money laundering allegations against Nawaz Sharif, seems to have dealt a wincing blow to the prime minister. The country’s top court now has to decide on the high-profile case. Initial snippets of the JIT report raise suspicions on the legitimacy of Sharif’s wealth.

Finding “significant” disparities in his known sources of income and actual wealth in Pakistan and abroad, the JIT has recommended filing of cases against Sharif and his family with the National Accountability Bureau, country’s top anti-corruption body. Among its major findings, the JIT found that both the sons of the prime minister, Hussain Nawaz and Hassan Nawaz, were used as proxies to build huge family assets. Moreover, Sharif-owned enterprises, which are mostly ‘loss-making’, did not justify the family’s enormous wealth. The role of Sharif’s offshore companies in acquiring expensive properties in London and elsewhere was also singled out in the report, which was rejected by ministers and senior members of Sharif’s party, who called the findings a “smoking gun” and “trash”.

While the JIT has no legal power to enforce its recommendations, all eyes are now focused on the country’s Supreme Court that will have to take a decision shortly. An adverse verdict can mean an immediate disqualification of the prime minister, but prior to that, the apex court will have to ensure that the JIT had stuck to its brief in reaching the conclusion. Asking Sharif to stand trial on corruption charges will be damaging for the prime minister, but his party is likely to hang on to power until the 2018 parliamentary polls.