Ousted PM Nawaz Sharif says people owners of Pak

Islamabad: Ousted Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday said that Pakistan’s real owners were its 200 million people.

Mr Sharif was ousted by Supreme Court under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution in Panama Leaks case last month.

Addressing the participants of the rally in Muridke, Nawaz Sharif thanked them for their love and asked them whether they accept the SC verdict of disqualifying him. He said people sent him to Islamabad to plan prosperity projects but five judges ousted him.

Mr Sharif also asked for the support of his party workers in this struggle and vowed to not deceive or betray them. He said he always worked for the respect and development of the country.

The former PM said the mandate of the people had never been respected for the past 70 years in the country. Shortly after his speech, Nawaz Sharif left for Lahore via Grand Trunk Road where passionate Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) gathered to express solidarity.

Foreign minister Khawaja Mohammed Asif arrived in Kamoke from Sialkot along with his convoy to unite with Nawaz Sharif’s rally. On April 20, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa had announced Panama Leaks case decision comprising of 540 pages, saying that the court issued a split ruling calling for a Joint Investigation Team. Two of the five judges went further, branding Sharif ‘dishonest’.

The court formed a six-member inquiry team that included Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Additional Director General Wajid Zia, Military Intelligence’s Kamran Khurshid, National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) Director Irfan Naeem Mangi, State Bank of Pakistan’s Amer Aziz, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan’s (SECP) Executive Director Bilal Rasool and Inter-Services Intelligence’s Muhammad Nauman Saeed.

The JIT members during the seven-week period interrogated eight members of Sharif family including Nawaz Sharif, his younger brother Shehbaz Sharif, sons Hassan and Hussain Nawaz, daughter Maryam Nawaz, son-in-law Mohammed Safdar, cousin Tariq Fazal Chaudhry and brother-in-law Ishaq Dar and submitted its report on July 10.

On July 29, the five-judge larger bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa and comprising Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, Justice Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Justice Ijazul Ahsan after a week-long hearings unanimously disqualified Nawaz Sharif.

On August 2, President Mamnoon Hussain had administered oath to Shahid Khaqan Abbasi after he was elected as the leader of the House in National Assembly. On August 4, a 43-member new cabinet that included 27 federal and 16 state ministers took oath in a ceremony at Prime Minister House.