ISLAMABAD: The opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf submitted on Thursday an adjournment motion to the National Assembly secretariat, seeking a debate on the April 20 Supreme Court verdict in the Panama Papers case.

Seeking a detailed debate on the case and its aftermath after suspension of normal proceedings of the house, the PTI members in their motion have declared that “position of Nawaz Sharif as leader of the house has become untenable” after the judgement.

On April 21, Deputy Speaker Murtaza Javed Abbasi had abruptly prorogued the assembly when the opposition members lodged a noisy protest in the house for not giving floor to PTI chairman Imran Khan, who had come to the house after a long gap only to deliver a speech after the announcement of the court’s verdict.

The next sessions of the National Assembly and the Senate are scheduled to begin on May 8 and the opposition parties have already started flexing their muscles to continue their protest in parliament to put pressure on the prime minister to resign in the light of the apex court’s majority verdict.

The main opposition Pakistan Peoples Party is also planning to move similar motions in both houses of parliament in order to give a tough time to the government in the coming pre-budget sessions.

The PTI has already announced launching of a mass movement against the prime minister through a public meeting in Islamabad on Friday.

Prominent PTI members who have signed the adjournment motion are Dr Shireen Mazari, Asad Umar, Munazza Hassan, Nafeesa Inayatullah Khattak and Hameedul Haq.

As a result of the three-two majority verdict, Mr Sharif was allowed to remain the prime minister, but will have to face a thorough investigation by a specially-constituted joint investigation team. The five-judge bench had ordered Mr Sharif and his children to face further investigation by the JIT on charges of money laundering and tax evasion as revealed in the Panama Papers leaks last year.

The two most senior judges in the bench in their dissenting notes declared the prime minister ineligible for the office of the prime minister, saying that he was no more ‘Sadiq and Ameen’ and ‘honest’ person.

Soon after the announcement of the verdict, the opposition parties unanimously called for the prime minister’s resignation on moral grounds.

But the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-N has categorically stated that the prime minister will not resign merely on the basis of dissenting notes of two judges.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2017