Abid Sher Ali hopes Panamagate verdict to be on merit

ISLAMABAD: State Minister for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali Monday said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will stay in power and continue running the government affairs.

“Nawaz is to stay in power and continue the journey of Pakistan’s development,” he said, talking to media outside the Supreme Court.

The minister said, the JIT report carries no weight and it has based its report on certain evidences that are beyond facts.

He criticized Sheikh Rashid’s political career, highlighting his role as Nawaz Sharif’s aide before the regime of military dictator Pervez Musharraf. “Wrong counselling of such leaders had resulted in 1999 fiasco.”

“God willing the apex court will decide the case on merit and not on Imran Khan’s wishes,” he said, adding that despite whatever happened “we respect the honorable judges”.

A three-judge Supreme Court bench seized with the Panama Papers implementation case, resumed hearing on the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) report today with the parties involved hoping to get the decision according to their wishes.

The Sharifs’ legal team has filed the objections in the court, rejecting the report in its entirety. It termed the findings biased, politically motivated and an attempt to tarnish the image of the prime minister and his family while pleading to judges to nullify the report. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar also filed his objections to the report.