No honour in staying on, Shah tells PM

Opposition leader says Qatari prince’s letter can prove dangerous for Nawaz Sharif

FAISALABAD: Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Khursheed Shah has said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has lost his credibility and that he should step down in the interest of strengthening democracy in the country.

“Had the PM decided to honourably quit his office after emergence of the Panama Papers controversy, he would have been supported by the whole parliament and it would also have led to creation of a democratic tradition in the country,” Shah told reporters in Jhang on Monday.



The Panama Papers, a leak of classified documents of a Panama-based firm, revealed in April that the prime minister’s three scions owned offshore companies in international tax havens.  The apex court is currently hearing a slew of petitions primarily seeking the PM’s disqualification in view of the scandal.



“By acquiring a letter from a Qatari prince, Nawaz Sharif has created serious doubts about himself and this letter will prove fatal,” Shah said in reference to the letter presented as evidence in the court by the premier’s legal team on November 16.

The letter revealed that the PM’s family’s four luxury apartments in London were purchased through offshore investments involving a member of the Qatari royal family.

A stalwart of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Khursheed Shah rebuffed criticism of his party’s apparently ‘soft’ stance against the government and said the PPP leaders –ZA Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto – as well as hundreds of workers had sacrificed their lives for the cause of democracy.

“Therefore those who are criticising the PPP’s present stance are not aware that we cannot destabilise the democratic system. The democratic system is more important than the politics of agitation.



“If we supported Imran Khan’s politics, the whole democratic system would have collapsed,” he added.

He announced that the PPP would not support the 24th Constitution Amendment and would not allow the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to clear parliamentary hurdles at any cost.

“The PPP will play its role for the rule of law, and will oppose all undemocratic acts of the PML-N government. We will also hold them accountable for their misdeeds and corruption,” he said.

Shah said those who claimed that the PPP had lost its roots in the Punjab would soon see the party re-emerging as one of the leading parties in the province.

He said the selection of the army chief was a normal business of the government but media had created unnecessary hype over such issues.

“Such tendencies weaken the civilian setup,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 29^th, 2016.