JI, MQM-P and QWP want accountability to continue

Call for convening NA session to elect new PM

ISLAMABAD/KARACHI/PESHAWAR: Describing the Supreme Court verdict in the Panamagate case as historic, leaders of three parliamentary parties on Friday called for the accountability process to be kept going.

Ameer Jamaat-e-Islami Sirajul Haq, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) chief Dr Farooq Sattar and Qaumi Watan Party chairperson Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao in separate news conferences took a similar instance and urged President Mamnoon Hussain to convene the National Assembly session without delay.

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Haq told the media that the disqualification of Nawaz Sharif as prime minister was just the beginning in the long war against corruption

“I urge the Supreme Court to hold all those named in the Panama Papers accountable. The process of accountability should not end at Nawaz Sharif,” he said.

Haq dismissed claims from the PML-N that an international conspiracy had been hatched against the Sharif family. He also criticised the PML-N government for its “overtures towards India”.



The JI also staged a rally in the federal capital to celebrate “victory in the fight against corruption”.

In Karachi, MQM-P’s Farooq Sattar urged the president to immediately convene the National Assembly session to elect a new prime minister.

“The Supreme Court verdict is the beginning of accountability process in the country,” he said while addressing a news conference at the party’s temporary headquarter in Bahadurabad area of Karachi hours after the Supreme Court disqualified Nawaz as PM.



He was flanked by several senior party leaders, including senior deputy convener Amir Khan, deputy convener Kanwar Naveed Jamil and Coordination Committee members Faisal Sabzwari, Aminul Haq and others.

Sattar also asked the Supreme Court to take suo motu notice of “179 mega corruption cases” in Sindh. “Corruption is going on in Sindh on a massive scale,” he alleged.

He said the National Accountability Court (NAB) had sent 179 cases of mega corruption to the apex court “but there is no development as yet”.



In Peshawar, Qaumi Watan Party chairperson Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao called the Supreme Court’s decision in the Panamagate case ‘historic’

Talking to the media at his residence after the court’s decision, Sherpao also asked the president to call the National Assembly session without any delay.

He congratulated the PML-N leadership for accepting the verdict.



“The Qaumi Watan Party accepts the Supreme Court’s decision. Every political party in the country should respect the court’s verdict,” he said.

“I am happy that Nawaz Sharif also accepted it,” Sherpao said, adding, “The decision has changed the history of the country. The accountability process has been started and it should be kept running.”

Sherpao said parliament should complete its tenure and urged the ruling party to name a new prime minister in the next two days. “This is import to keep the democratic process on track.”