Iftikhar Chaudhry approaches ECP to seek PM’s asset details

Former CJP submits application to witness National Assembly proceedings

ISLAMABAD: Former chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) and chairman of newly-formed Pakistan Justice Democratic Critic Party (PJDCP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry approached on Monday the country's top poll supervisory body seeking asset details of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

An application has been submitted to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to seek full disclosure of assets of the premier from 2008 to 2015.

Former CJP's counsel Sheikh Ahsan Uddin alleged that the prime minister does not fulfil the criteria mention in the Article 62 and 63 of the Constitution after he was exposed by Panama Papers for hiding assets in the offshore companies.



"We would submit an application for the disqualification of the prime minister once we received the asset details," the lawyer said.

Meanwhile, the former CJP has also submitted an application to the secretary National Assembly to witness NA proceedings.

PM Nawaz is due to make his first appearance in parliament today since the Panama revelations about his family’s offshore holdings caused a political upheaval in the country.

How the premier will tackle an uncompromising opposition is anybody’s guess. Opposition parties want the beleaguered the prime minister to answer seven tricky questions about his family’s wealth, but he is unlikely to acquiesce, though he might not gloss over the offshore assets of his children.



Sources say PM Nawaz might offer opposition parties the prospect of forming a house committee to thrash out fresh terms of reference (ToRs) for a judicial inquiry he has ordered into the Panamagate scandal.

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Anwar Zaheer Jamali has already refused to form a judicial commission with the ToRs suggested by the government. And the prime minister is likely to ask the opposition to seek guidance from the CJP’s letter while framing new working terms.