ISLAMABAD: The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has placed Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, a Nawaz Sharif loyalist, as the interim prime minister until Sharif's brother Shahbaz becomes eligible to take over by winning a parliamentary by-election in the next two months. Abbasi was elected with 221 votes from the 342-member National Assembly and will be sworn-in by the president soon. He is a long-time ally of Sharif, and was jailed for two years in 1999 after the military toppled Sharif.
Opposition groups had also nominated candidates but PML-N holds a majority. Party lawmaker Rana Muhammad Afzal Khan told the press that the main objective was to “give Pakistan stability. As a responsible party we have to take Pakistan ahead.” Shahbaz will contest the parliamentary seat left vacant by his ousted brother, but the process is expected to take at least 45 days.
Nawaz was asked to step down by the Supreme Court, following a decision made to disqualify him from office. The ruling came after an investigation was made into his family's wealth following the leak of the Panama Papers in 2015, that linked Sharif's children to offshore companies and assets not shown on his family's wealth statement. The SC said Sharif had been dishonest in not disclosing his earnings from a Dubai-based company in his nomination papers during the 2013 general election. It also recommended anti-corruption cases against several individuals, including Sharif, his daughter Maryam and her husband Safdar, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, and others.
Abbasi vowed to continue Sharif 's work. “I hope that God will help me in furthering Nawaz Sharif's policies. People of Pakistan haven't accepted the (SC) decision,” Abbasi said, adding to speculation that Sharif will continue to run the show behind the scenes. “We wanted to make sure there is a smooth transfer of power and no constitutional crisis,” said Miftah Ismail, a PML-N official.
On Sunday , thousands of supporters of opposition politician Imran Khan held a rally in Islamabad, waving flags and cheering Sharif's ouster. Khan, who spearheaded the campaign for the Panama Papers case, said he expected to win the next election in 2018.
Transparency International UK urges govt to “take action” against Sharif's assets
Non-profit Transparency International UK believes that the Sharif's disqualification over corruption allegations must prompt immediate action by UK authorities on his UK-based assets. They said authorities must immediately work to establish whether the Sharif family still own the four properties, and consider seizure proceedings if it is found to be the case. UK pledged to introduce a register of beneficial ownership of foreign companies at the London Anti-Corruption Summit in May 2016, who truly owns the companies buying property in the UK.
Duncan Hames, Director of Policy Transparency International UK, said, “It should not take a leak like the Panama Papers for us to know who is buying property in the UK. Allowing corrupt individuals to discreetly stash illicit cash in UK property hurts people in the societies they have stolen from and also contributes to the housing crisis here in the UK.”
“The government has repeatedly committed to introduce a register of the real owners of overseas companies that own property here, so it’s high-time those words were turned into action. The need to act is well illustrated by the case of London property connected to Nawaz Sharif.”
