Panama case: Defiant Nawaz Sharif says he won't quit

Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Wednesday that he would neither quit nor dissolve the National Assembly.

Amid the Opposition’s pressure to resign, the PM said he had done nothing wrong and would not succumb to the demands.

Speaking in a meeting on Tuesday night, Mr Sharif said he will challenge the final Panamagate report submitted by Joint Investigation Team (JIT) in the Supreme Court.

This week, the JIT probing the Panama case submitted its report to the Supreme Court, highlighting “glaring disparities” between the Sharif family’s known sources of income and their actual wealth.

The premier presided over a meeting at the PM House on Tuesday night to discuss course-of-action of the ruling party following submission of the JIT report. The members decided to take the coalition parties into confidence before making a proper strategy for the “legal war”.

The PM also ordered to constitute a legal team under the supervision of advocate Khawaja Harris whereas the already formed legal team that includes barrister Zafarullah Khan and Anousha Rehman will assist Mr Harris.

They also discussed strong reactions coming in from the Opposition parties, especially the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), which has demanded PM’s resignation.

An official statement said the representatives of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) reiterated their confidence in the party leadership and branded the JIT report a compilation of documents based on hypotheses and lies. They said the probe team relied upon media coverage and accusations only, which “makes it a political report”.

They also said that PM’s hands were clean as he was not having any offshore company, therefore, he will not resign, adding Panama Leaks was a conspiracy whose directors are abroad and actors are in the country.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar rejected as baseless the allegations leveled against him about his finance matters. He said all the record of his tax returns and financial matters is available, and will be presented to the court.

He said a narrative was being tried to be built since the report was submitted to the court. He said patience should be observed till the decision, and the democratic process should be allowed to be continued.

Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique said the allegations leveled by the JIT will be replied in Supreme Court. He said JIT did not ask any question about the documents submitted to the court and that the JIT acted partially, and its report is based on ill-intentions.