PPP to launch movement for Nawaz Sharif's resignation

The Pakistan People's Party (PPP) will launch a movement across the country to press Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to resign and expose his government's inability to control electricity load shedding despite remaining in power for about four years.

"After Panama verdict, the prime minister has no moral justification to cling to the office and resign forthwith. We have decided to launch a countrywide movement against the premier to force him to resign," Dawn quoted PPP Information Secretary Chaudhry Manzoor as saying.

He said the movement for Sharif's resignation and against load shedding will go side by side.

Manzoor said people were cursing PML-N as it had lied to them about load shedding issue.

He further said that the PPP had rejected the formation of a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) by Supreme Court to probe the Panama case against Sharif and his children and pointed out that it would have been better if the apex court had ordered the investigation agencies to probe this matter instead of giving the job to the same institutions like the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on which it had expressed its annoyance for not probing against the Sharifs.

The PPP leader alleged that the PML-N leaders had become frightened and have started using foul language about his party leadership after the Panama verdict.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has said he would go after PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari as his struggle to pursue the alleged corruption charges against Prime Minister Sharif had reached a conclusion.

While addressing his supporters in Sindh's Badin district, Imran regretted that he could not visit the province earlier as he was focusing on pursuing alleged rigging in the 2013 general elections, the Dawn reported.

"I spent a year on this issue," the PTI chief said, adding the Panamagate case verdict "has revealed the true face of Nawaz Sharif".

"Now the prime minister is stuck with the joint investigation committee. Asif Zardari, I am coming after you," he said.

"Nawaz Sharif built his empire in Punjab while Zardari built his in Sindh. There, Nawaz rigged the election, here Zardari rigged the polls," he alleged, claiming the two leaders were taking turns and have secretly agreed as to how they would rob the country of its resources.

Pakistan's apex court on Thursday in a 3-2 judgement on the Panamagate case had ordered the formation of a JIT to continue probing the allegations of financial irregularities and money laundering, while noting that at present, there is "insufficient evidence to remove Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif."

The JIT has been given two months to complete the probe into the matter and Sharif's sons Hussain and Hasan have also been directed to appear before the JIT. The investigators will also have to present bi-weekly reports to a special bench of the Supreme Court.