DISQUALIFIED yesterday by Pakistan’s Supreme Court on grounds of dishonesty, it would seem there is no way back for Nawaz Sharif (pictured, right), the longest-serving prime minister in the country’s 70-year-history. Only devoted loyalists now share the belief of his daughter, Maryam, that Mr Sharif will soon “return with greater force”, something he managed after two previous ousters, in 1993 and 1999.
Mr Sharif’s disqualification will certainly last beyond the next scheduled elections, due mid-next year, and could yet be interpreted as being permanent. All five Supreme Court justices agreed that his failure to declare the $3,000 monthly salary he earned—but left untouched in a foreign bank account—from an offshore company, Capital FZE, broke the law. Though a technicality, it was enough for the judges to send him packing. The court also passed on meatier allegations of money-laundering to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), an anti-corruption...Continue reading
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