Shehbaz Sharif demands PM Imran’s resignation

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif on Friday demanded Prime Minister Imran Khan’s resignation, saying that under the constitution and the law, no liar and thief can hold the position.

The PML-N president said that the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) scrutiny committee had declared the premier a "certified thief and a liar".

“The ECP's inquiry committee established that Imran Khan Niazri is neither honest nor trustworthy. The committee said that Imran stole and lied. [Therefore], as per the constitution, law and political ethics, he should step down,” Shehbaz said in a statement.

He demanded that the hearing of the foreign funding case against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) should be conducted on a daily basis, just like the case against PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif.

“Imran Khan and his party have been charged under the law by the ECP’s inquiry committee. Therefore, equal application of the law in accordance with the Constitution is a mandatory the requirement that must be met.

“There is no Prime Minister in the country at the moment, and the country is running in a constitutional and legal vacuum. Under the constitution and law, [PM] Imran cannot make decisions for Pakistan,” he continued.

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He said that the country was facing a constitutional crisis after the scrutiny committee’s report, which could only be resolved after a comprehensive political dialogue.

“I will consult the opposition on this serious constitutional crisis in Pakistan. Political parties that believe in the constitution and the law must play their part in bringing the country out of the constitutional crisis,” he added.

Reacting to the development, PM Khan on Wednesday had welcomed the ECP's scrutiny and said he was looking forward to a similar one on funding of PML-N and PPP.

"The more our accounts are scrutinised the more factual clarity will emerge for the nation to see how PTI is the only political party with proper donor base premised on proper political fundraising," he said on Twitter.