Sharifs political career hangs in balance: Al Jazeera
Shares
On Saturday, Sharif appeared to take a defensive stance prior to the inquiry report’s submission, with leaders from his PML-N party vowing to reject the report as it did not include testimony from former Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani.
Sharif contends that the former Qatari prime minister's father was a business partner, and that the apartments in London were bought using funds transferred from Qatar.
Sheikh Al Thani was invited to testify before the inquiry, or to record his testimony at the Pakistani embassy in Qatar.
He rejected the invitation, saying he was not subject to Pakistani law, but invited investigators to visit him in the Qatari capital Doha to record a statement. The investigators did not do so.
In a related development, a case was registered on Monday against the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) chief Zafar Hijazi for tampering with records of Sharif-owned business while the investigating team was completing its inquiry.
With the Supreme Court now taking up the case once more, Sharif’s political career hangs in the balance. If the court deems him to have hidden assets or not satisfactorily explained the source of his funds, it could disqualify him from holding public office.
In such a case, he would be removed from office, with members of parliament tasked with electing a new prime minister.
Sharif’s PML-N party holds a comfortable majority in parliament and in Punjab, the country’s most populous province, but any disqualification of the party chief would be a huge blow to the party ahead of a scheduled general election next year.
Asad Hashim is Al Jazeera’s Web Correspondent in Pakistan. He tweets
