Daily Times

LAHORE: Lawyers on Tuesday announced to give another seven days to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to step down.

They announced to launch a countrywide movement if Nawaz failed to resign within one week. The National Action Committee would meet next week to devise a strategy for the movement to compel Nawaz to resign.

Addressing a joint press conference, the office-bearers of Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), the Supreme Court Bar Association and Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) said that Nawaz should keep up with his promise to resign if found guilty during the investigation.

PBC Vice Chairman Ahsan Bhoon said that the investigation proved the money laundering charges against the Sharifs and now he had no moral or legal justification to stay in the power.

He said that it was for the sake of democracy and rule of law that the accused should prove his innocence.

SCBA president Rasheed A Rizvi and Secretary Aftab Ahmad Bajwa were also scheduled to join the press conference, however, they could not reach in time. Later, Aftab Bajwa said that the only option left with Nawaz was to step down. He demanded that the Sharifs should be arrested forthwith as the JIT had held them guilty of corruption and money laundering.

LHCBA President Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali said the JIT established the lawyers’ point that the PM was not honest and righteous and he had to resign now.

He praised the JIT for holding impartial investigation and declaring the ruling Sharifs guilty of corruption. He demanded to put the Sharifs on the Exit Control List.

He also lauded the Supreme Court’s decision of summoning record of threatening speeches by the ministers and ordering an FIR against SECP Chairman Zafar Hijazi. He advised the ministers to act like public representatives instead of protecting the Sharifs.

Earlier the SCBA and LHCBA had given an ultimatum to Nawaz to resign in the wake of the April 20 Supreme Court verdict in Panama Papers case.

Published in Daily Times, July 12^th , 2017.