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  World   Asia  12 Jul 2017  PPP, PTI join forces against Nawaz Sharif

PPP, PTI join forces against Nawaz Sharif

THE ASIAN AGE. | SHAFQAT ALI
Published : Jul 12, 2017, 3:22 am IST
Updated : Jul 12, 2017, 3:22 am IST

The decision came after the report of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) against Prime Minister Sharif and his family.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (Photo: AP)
 Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (Photo: AP)

Islamabad: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) on Tuesday decided to form a grand opposition alliance against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

The decision came after the report of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) against Prime Minister Sharif and his family.

The PPP and the PTI have taken the stance that there will be no threat to democracy if Nawaz Sharif stepped down.

PPP’s opposition leader in National Assembly Khurshid Shah met PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi and said if PM Sharif wanted to save democracy, he should immediately resign, and there will be no damage to the system.

Mr Shah assured that opposition will have no reservation if Nawaz Sharif brought forward a new PM.

Meanwhile, PTI’s Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that Nawaz Sharif was left with no moral, political and legal authority to stay on PM’s post after the JIT report.

Mr Qureshi reminded Nawaz Sharif of the promise that he made to the country in which he promised to resign if any evidence is found against him in the investigations.

Meanwhile, the JIT has made important revelations in the report that it submitted in the Supreme Court on Monday regarding the Panama probe of Sharif family, and said Prime Minister Sharif refused to recognize his own uncle during the interview, and identified him after two and half hours of questioning.

As per details, the PM was reluctant to answer the questions regarding the Gulf Steel Mills, and kept on saying “neither does he know Muhammad Hussain nor his partnership in Gulf Steel Mills.” On the contrary, he admitted after some time that Mr Hussain was his own uncle.

The report states: “Nawaz Sharif was visibly evasive about most of the questions related to Gulf Steel Mills. Despite repeated questions, he stated that neither does he know Mr Muhammad Hussain nor his partnership in Gulf Steel Mills, which is unlikely. After two and half hours of the interview, he admitted only to the extent of knowing Mr Muhammad Hussain, as his uncle.”

The JIT concluded in its report: “Mian Nawaz Sharif’s statement that this factory (Gulf Steel Mills), in 1980 was sold for 33.37 million Dirhams or for 9 million dollars cannot be corroborates.”

Tags: nawaz sharif, mahmood qureshi
Location: Pakistan, Islamabad, Islamabad