By Aamir Latif
KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – Shaken by a mounting pressure from opposition parties, Pakistan’s prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, has agreed to form a Supreme Court commission to probe into corruption charges against his family.
Sharif has been under pressure from the opposition as well as the local media to form a commission led by the chief justice to probe the allegations after the whistleblower Panama Papers leak revealed that his sons owned two offshore companies.
“I am going to write a letter to the Chief Justice Supreme Court for the formation of a commission,” Sharif said in an address to the nation on state media on Friday. “I will resign and go home if proven guilty.”
“I challenge all those who have been accusing me and my family of tax fraud to come forward and present evidence before the commission. If charges are proven, I will resign immediately,” a visibly emotional Sharif added, asserting that some “certain elements” were trying to destabilize Pakistan in the name of the Panama Papers leak – a thinly veiled reference to the opposition.
The move came a day after the country’s powerful army chief sacked several army officers, including two generals over corruption charges adding to the already mounting pressure on Sharif.
Barely an hour after his address, the Law Ministry wrote a letter to Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali to form a three-member commission to investigate the allegations against the Sharif family. It will also conduct the probe on some 200 other Pakistani politicians, businessmen and media owners who own offshore companies, according to the Panama Papers, a trove of 11.5 million leaked documents from a Panama-based law firm that showed offshore business dealings.
All the state institutions will be bound to cooperate with the commission, according to the terms and references announced by the Law Ministry.
Sharif’s eldest son, Hussain Nawaz, in an interview with local Geo TV earlier this month had admitted that he owned offshore companies but insisted it was legal.
He, however, refused to make his assets public insisting that it would harm his business interests.
The opposition, however, greeted the move by the prime minster with caution and asked that “more” be done.
Opposition leader Khursheed Shah, though, welcomed the move, but asked for international forensic auditors to probe the transactions trail as well.
Bilawal Bhutto, the chairman of main opposition Pakistan Peoples party (PPP), said the prime minister should resign.
“The prime minister has yet to present himself before the parliament and explain himself. He should follow his own advise and resign,” Bhutto tweeted.
Sharif came into power for a third term following his right-wing Pakistan Muslim League (PML) party’s landslide victory in the 2013 elections.
