Pakistan’s PM Sharif Resigns after Supreme Court Disqualifies Him
Local Editor
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif resigned following a Supreme Court ruling that disqualified him from office over corruption charges.
Sharif's office said on Friday that he was resigning shortly after the Supreme Court issued a verdict disqualifying him earlier in the day.
"He is disqualified as a member of the parliament so he has ceased to be holding the office of Prime Minister," Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan told a packed courtroom.
Sharif's ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz [PML-N] Party, which has a majority in parliament, is expected to name a new prime minister to hold office until elections due next year.
The court also dismissed Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, one of Sharif's closest allies.
It was the second time in Pakistan's 70-year history that the Supreme Court has disqualified a sitting prime minister.
Sharif had been ousted as leader before completing his term twice before. In 1993, he was sacked by the then-president over graft allegations, while in 1999 he was ousted in a military coup.
The court also asked the national anti-corruption bureau to launch a further probe into the allegations against Sharif.
The Pakistani prime minister and his family had faced allegation of financial corruption, and Ejaz Afzal Khan, who heads the Supreme Court panel in the case, had declared the end of the hearings last week.
The Supreme Court had ordered an investigation team in April to review evidence and a disqualification verdict was expected.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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