PTI to file reference for PM Nawaz’s disqualification

Move comes days after PML-N filed a reference with NA speaker for Imran's disqualification from the lower house

ISLAMABAD: In tit-for-tat move, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has announced to file a reference with the National Assembly speaker for the disqualification of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

“We have decided to file a reference with the Speaker under Article 62 and 63 of the Constitution on August 15 [Monday],” PTI vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi said after the party's senior leaders met Imran Khan at Bani Gala.

Earlier on August 5, the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) filed a reference with the NA Speaker to disqualify the PTI chief for “setting up an offshore company and concealing assets.”



Addressing the media, Qureshi said PTI’s legal team comprising Hamid Khan and Naeem Bokhari had been working on the reference, which was in final stage now.

At the same time, the PTI decided to pursue an identical reference filed with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on August 17.

The meeting was convened to discuss party’s future strategy with regard to its protest movement against corruption in the wake of Panama Papers.

Leaked documents from the Mossack Fonseca law firm in Panama last month showed several world leaders as well as the premier’s three children – sons, Hassan and Hussain, and his daughter, Maryam – owning at least three offshore holding companies registered in the British Virgin Islands.

Regarding the terms of reference (ToRs) evolved by the opposition to probe the leaks, Qureshi said PTI had endorsed the joint opposition's decision to introduce a bill in the Senate based on these.

The leadership also endorsed the decision of moving resolutions in provincial assemblies relating to the revelations, he added.



Meanwhile, the PTI vice chairman accused the government of creating hurdles in the party's plan to organise a rally in Liaquat Bagh, Rawalpindi and conclude it in Islamabad.

Qureshi also took the government to task for not being able to provide security to those killed in Quetta's Civil Hospital terrorist attack.

“The government should reveal the reasons behind the failure in the implementation of NAP,” Qureshi demanded, terming prime minister’s brief intervention in the NA in this regard was insufficient.