Nawaz Sharif denies concealing UAE employment

Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Sunday claimed that he had never hidden his job in a United Arab Emirates company and had declared it in the 2013 elections.

PM’s lawyer Khawaja Harris submitted a reply in Supreme Court regarding the Premier’s employment in a UAE company. The reply said that PM Nawaz Sharif obtained an iqama (work permit) in UAE and then attached it with the nomination papers of General Elections 2013.

Rejecting the Joint Investigation Team’s finding that the PM had concealed his employment at an offshore company Capital FZE, Khawaja Harris said his client had annexed the iqama and employment document at the company with the passport copy submitted along the nomination papers.

“As there was no special column for such information, the documents were not shown separately,” he said.

The reply said that Nawaz Sharif did not hold the position of chief executive of Chaudhry Sugar Mills. According to the security and exchange commission of Pakistan (SECP) documents, the premier remained the shareholder of the mill till June 2016.

PM Sharif’s lawyer had requested in the reply to dismiss Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf’s (PTI) petition in this regard. 

The JIT, formed to investigate the Panama leaks scandal, submitted its report in the Supreme Court this month and found ‘significant disparities’ in the Sharif family’s known sources of income. The JIT said Mr Sharif had hidden his employment with a UAE company. The Supreme Court has reserved the verdict in this case.

Meanwhile on Sunday, former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said the Panama Papers case verdict should be announced as soon as possible so that normalcy can be restored.

Addressing a news conference in Multan, he said the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) will wait for the Supreme Court’s decision. He was of the view that the incumbent government should complete its term and elections should be held in 2018.