Panamagate: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family are being investigated for graft
Amid demands for his resignation, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today convened an emergency Cabinet meeting to chalk out a strategy to counter the Panama case probe panel's damning report that recommended filing of a graft case against him and his family.
The prime minister is expected to seek an endorsement from the Cabinet in the form of a resolution or a declaration, apart from briefing members about the party's strategy to challenge the Joint Investigation Team report in Pakistan's Supreme Court, official sources said.
The six-member Joint Investigation Team that probed the Sharif family's business dealings in its 10-volume report submitted to the Supreme Court on July 10 recommended that a corruption case should be filed against Mr Sharif and his sons Hassan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz, as well as daughter Maryam Nawaz, under the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) ordinance 1999.
The decision to convene the Cabinet was taken during an "informal meeting" at the prime minister's house, attended by members of Mr Sharif's Cabinet and his legal team, including Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf Ali.
All major opposition political parties have demanded he step down and stay away from power until his name was cleared. However, Mr Sharif is not ready to quit and his daughter Maryam confirmed it in a tweet.
"Insh'Allah he won't resign because not a single allegation of misuse of public money during five tenures in power has been proven against him," she tweeted. Nawaz Sharif is serving as the Prime Minister of Pakistan for a record third time. He had also served twice as the Chief Minister of Punjab (Pakistan) in the 1980s.