LAHORE – Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) has demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday.
“we gave the premier seven days to resign or otherwise after one week, the High Court Bar will call all Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) representatives and evolve unanimous strategy and decide future plans in this regard,” said the LHCBA President Chaudhry Zulfiqar along with other office-bearers while addressing a press conference.
The lawyers further said that after the verdict of Supreme Court, Prime Minister has lost all ground to stay in office.
“Lawyers will come on the roads if Prime Minister does not resign,” said the advocate. “Two of the judges clearly called him incompetent while three other judges did not clear him of corruption charges. Hence, he must leave the office,” demanded advocate.
He said a campaign larger than the lawyers’ protest that led to the reinstatement of former Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry will be launched if Premier Nawaz does not voluntarily step down within seven days.
The officers part of the JIT, Zulfiqar said, will not be able to probe the premier given the fact that they are subordinates to him.
The LHCBA vice president, meanwhile, highlighted that questions that the top court had raised over the absence of a money trail for the Sharif family’s alleged offshore wealth cannot be ignored.
“As the Supreme Court has rejected Nawaz Sharif’s stance, he has lost his standing to continue to function as the prime minister of the country,” he added.
Other members of the body also said the verdict was actually a charge sheet against the premier. They pointed out that two senior judges had ruled that Nawaz was neither Sadiq nor Ameen. The members also announced they will summon a convention of lawyers to finalise a strategy following the verdict.
The association is first among the lawyers’ bodies to demand the premier’s resignation.
