Petition filed to disqualify Nawaz Sharif

LAHORE: A petition was filed today in a Pakistani court seeking disqualification of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for lying in his speech to the Parliament.

The application was filed by Gauhar Nawaz who is a senior president of the Insaf Lawyers Forum.

The petition, filed in the Lahore High Court, stated that Sharif yesterday lied on the issue of arbitration by the army to resolve the ongoing political crisis in the country.

He, thus, did not fulfil the qualifications specified in Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution.

Sharif had told the Parliament that it was Pakistan Awami Tehreek chief Tahirul Qadri and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan who had requested a meeting with Army Chief General Raheel Sharif in order to broker a settlement with the government over the prevailing political crisis, the Dawn reported.

Sharif said he gave permission for the Army Chief to engage the two leaders and play the role of a mediator.

However, Imran and Qadri had categorically rejected the premier's speech that they had invoked the army's help and had, in separate speeches slammed Sharif for 'lying to the nation'.

The military later issued a short statement saying that it was playing the role of facilitator in the ongoing political crisis at the behest of the government.

Meanwhile, Qadri has set a fresh 24-hour deadline for Sharif to quit as protests around Parliament entered the 17th day today amid efforts by Pakistan army to mediate.

The leaders and the government are scheduled to hold another meeting regarding the protests that Khan and Qadri began August 14 demanding the resignation of Sharif, who they accuse of rigging the 2013 general election.