Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Monday began hearings that will decide the future of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who is fighting for his job and contesting a damning corruption report by an investigative panel. “It hurts that despite of our hard work, attempts are afoot once again to push the country back,” Sharif told a meeting of his ruling PML-N parliamentary party over the weekend. The Supreme Court ordered the JIT to investigate the matter after the Panama Papers leaks showed Sharif’s two sons and his daughter owned offshore assets worth millions of dollars. In April, Sharif narrowly escaped disqualification after the Supreme Court ruled there was insufficient evidence to remove him – by a 2-3 split – over documents released by the Panama Papers leak. But relations soured and his second stint as prime minister ended when he was ousted in a 1999 coup leading to a decade of exile.

Source: Hindustan Times July 17, 2017 05:56 UTC