Graft claims, currency crisis rattle Pakistan
Charges against Sharif, his family spook investors and fresh street protests feared
Adeepening political crisis in Pakistan has spooked investors and risks fresh street protests amid a corruption probe into Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Sharif’s fate rests in the hands of the Supreme Court after an investigation found evidence of possible corruption, calling into question the legitimacy of his family’s accumulated wealth.
The probe recommended cases to be filed against the prime minister and his three children for failing to account for foreign assets.
Sharif has pledged to step down if found guilty by the court. The Supreme Court will hold a hearing into the findings on Monday. If it accepts the charges it could lead to Sharif’s resignation or disqualification as a member of parliament.
The crisis comes a week after Pakistan was hit by the biggest plunge in the rupee’s value in nine years, said to have been the central bank heeding calls to weaken the currency to allow some relief to exporters.
The final report by the Panamagate Joint Investigation Team (JIT), indicating corruption charges against Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his children and “significant” disparities in their income and actual wealth were true, has ignited a political firestorm.
During the 62-day investigation, the six-member JIT discovered three more offshore companies owned by Sharifs other than the three they were investigating. The JIT report submitted to the Supreme Court on Panama scandal has triggered a huge political setback in the country’s political history.
Will the Prime Minister resign? This is the ultimate question on every Pakistani’s mind. The choices are few, either the prime minster steps down now and faces charges or waits for the decision of the Supreme Court. The ruling PML-N party, however, says they would fight the legal battle. “Whatever the law may permit, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif must do the right thing by democracy and step aside, at least temporarily,” read the editorial of Pakistan newspaper Dawn. This statement resonates with most analysts and legal experts.
“For a sitting prime minister, there could not have been a more damning indictment” as JIT has charged the Sharif family on several counts “from perjury and faking documents to hiding their sources of wealth and living beyond their means,” says Zahid Hussain, a respected author and journalist in Pakistan.
“The JIT report is alarming for the government. The report indicates the PM as the owner of an offshore company, whereas his ministers have persistently denied this allegation,” said legal expert, Justice (R) Rasheed A. Rizvi. “PM Sharif has lost all moral and legal grounds to retain the premiership” he added.
A major setback for Sharif’s family was that JIT report also accused his daughter Maryam Nawaz of forging documents. As Maryam has long been groomed as Sharif’s heir, this disclosure could possibly spell doom for the dream of transition of power to the second generation.
There was also speculation in the media about the PM’s successor and the focus is currently on Shahbaz Sharif, PM Sharif’s brother and current Punjab Chief Minister.