Panama Heat On Sharif

Corruption threatens to upend Nawaz Sharif’s premiership like in his last two terms. The Opposition ups the ante on his resignation over the Panama leaks.

- Zahid Hussain

It has been almost a month since the Panama papers were leaked, but there seems to be no end to the political maelstrom it has unleashed in Pakistan. In these past weeks, the government has been operating at a level of panic rarely witnessed in recent years. It has had a tough time defending the money trail of the Sharif family’s huge alleged offshore and foreign assets.

Although not named directly in the leaks, the revelations pertaining to his massive family business abroad have put the Pakistan prime minister in a spot. The companies Sharif’s son and daughter own were reportedly used to acquire properties worth millions of pounds in Britain. It is hard to believe that Sharif has no connection whatsoever with the wealth of his children. The defence the family and government spokespersons have offered so far has failed to answer basic questions pertaining to the money trail.For Nawaz Sharif, it’s deja vu all over again. Twice before he has lost power halfway through his terms owing to the confrontations between different centres of power. He has already addressed the nation twice in the days since the Panama leaks. He finds himself in the same desperate situation as he did in 1993, in the twilight of his first term in office, when he was dismissed on grounds of corruption.

Twenty-three years on, he finds himself in the same corner, with all the major political parties joining hands in demanding that he come clean on the money trail to his family’s wealth abroad. It is certainly the biggest challenge Sharif has faced in his third term in office, far bigger than the 2014 Imran Khan-Dr Qadri siege of Islamabad. He’s on a sticky wicket and his moral authority is at its lowest.