Panama Papers: Recap of final day

By
Zahid Gishkori
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ISLAMABAD: “Respondent No-1 (Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif) stands disqualified." Five powerful words uttered on Friday at 12:11pm, ended the tenure of Nawaz Sharif less than a year before he was to complete his term.

In the 18-minute-long ‘order-reading-exercise’, two judges — Justices Asif Saeed Khosa and Ejaz Afzal Khan — captured the attention of more than 600 politicians, journalists, diplomats, lawyers and security personnel in Courtroom No-1.

As the five-member judge bench ordered authorities to file criminal charges against Nawaz Sharif, his two sons, a daughter, son-in-law and a party member, the PML-N camp was disappointed and dejected.

Gloom further prevailed in the hall where many were extracting meaning from the Panama Leaks short order. The order stated that Nawaz Sharif would not be allowed to become a member of Pakistan’s parliament again.

During the course of the proceedings, many said the history of disqualifying elected a prime minister by the top court repeated itself. It was exactly 24 years ago when Nawaz was removed from office in 1993, but on other charges.

As Justice Khosa continued to the read order, PTI’s workers were celebrating victory, forcing the court's administrators to ask the witnesses to maintain silence.

“Salute to the judges, they are our heroes,” whispered a PTI leader into ears of Jahangir Tareen's ears standing three feet away from the rostrum in the courtroom.

Many also said that the sword of disqualification was hanging over many other parliamentarians, including Imran Khan and Jahangir Khan Tareen in particular.

The Panama case order has set a new precedent in the judicial history of the country. The PML-N’s top leadership may bring Kulsoom Nawaz to lead party for next 2018 elections, said a lady MNA of PML-N. This move might yield better results for them after the situation which developed after Friday’s order, she added.

Nawaz Sharif, unfortunately failed to break the record of the longest-serving prime minister of Pakistan. Nawaz served 1,513 days in office while Liaquat Ali Khan served 1,524 days in office.

Many lawyers outside the courtroom were of the view that following Nawaz's disqualification, all eyes are now set on the apex court hearing cases of Imran Khan and Jahangir Tareen. The two PTI leaders, and many more, have obtained work permits from the UAE and Saudi Arabia but never revealed the same in their wealth statements and can be disqualified in light of the precedent set with the Nawaz judgement.