ISLAMABAD: Two days after his disqualification, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Sunday vacated the PM House and left for his personal residence in Murree along with his family members.
Nawaz Sharif, his wife Kulsum Nawaz, daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Captain (r) Safdar vacated the PM House. The former prime minister exchanged greetings with the staff of the PM House at a gathering before leaving. The Supreme Court had disqualified the thrice-elected prime minister on Friday in a unanimous verdict in the Panamagate case, cutting short his third stint in the power. The PML-N in a terse statement issued after the verdict had said that despite having reservations on the court decision, Nawaz Sharif has relinquished the office of the prime minister. On Saturday, the authorities concerned started putting down the pictures of the former prime ministers from different government installations, including from the Jinnah International Airport, Allama Iqbal International Airport and Benazir Bhutto International Airport. His name has also been removed from the National Assembly’s website following the Election Commission of Pakistan de-notifying him as member of the assembly. Sharif served as prime minister twice in the 1990s but failed to complete his office tenure. In his first stint, Nawaz stepped down after difference with then president Ghulam Ishaq Khan, while in his second tenure he was ousted in a military coup led by General Pervez Musharraf in 1999 leading to a decade of exile in Saudi Arabia. He won a third term as prime minister in May 2013 general elections. The PML-N’s parliamentary party on Saturday named Shehbaz Sharif as the successor of the ousted prime minister and nominated former petroleum minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as the interim premier. Elections for the new PM are slated for August 1.
Published in Daily Times, July 31st , 2017.
