Nawaz Sharif’s exit shows generals are no longer calling the shots as Pakistan battles corruption

Syed Fazl-e-Haider says the Pakistani prime minister’s ouster following a Supreme Court ruling is a step forward for the rule of law in a nation where power and corruption often go hand in hand

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Supporters of the opposition Pakistan People’s Party celebrate the dismissal of prime minister Nawaz Sharif, in Peshawar on July 28. Photo:

Published: 1:22pm, 1 Aug 2017Updated: 7:26pm, 1 Aug 2017

Prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s lifetime disqualification from holding any public office, by Pakistan’s top court over corruption charges, is being widely hailed as a great step forward for the rule of law in the country.

The case against Sharif and his family came after they were implicated in the Panama Papers leaks last year that revealed the offshore financial secrets of many of the world’s richest and most powerful people. After 10 months of court proceedings, the five-member bench of the Supreme Court on Friday unanimously declared Sharif unfit to hold office.

In the past, it was Pakistan’s powerful military that had dismissed civilian governments, mainly over corruption. It is not the generals but the judges who are calling the shots in Pakistan today. The effective ouster of Sharif by the court was within the constitutional framework. Its judgment endorses the argument that a powerful judiciary can shut the door to military intervention and pave the way for a smooth running of the democratic system in Pakistan.

A supporter of Nawaz Sharif passes out after the Supreme Court decision to disqualify the prime minister, in his hometown of Lahore on July 28. Photo: Reuters

Pakistanis in Hong Kong call on government to bar Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from entering city

A host of financial scams and scandals involving billions of rupees and corrupt authorities have come to the surface over the last nine years of democratic regimes. The ruling elite are not ready to give up their luxuries and status in a country where up to 40 per cent of a populace of 200 million live below the poverty line.