- Title: Former Pakistan minister hints at military role in PM's departure
- Date: 28th July 2017
- Summary: ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (JULY 28, 2017) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** EXTERIOR OF PUNJAB HOUSE FORMER MINISTER OF PLANNING AHSAN IQBAL SHAKING HANDS WITH JOURNALISTS FORMER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, KHWAJA SAAD RAFIQ, SHAKING HANDS WITH JOURNALISTS FORMER MINISTERS SEATED FOR NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) FORMER RAILWAYS MINISTER, KHWAJA SAAD RAFIQ, SAYING: "We have not been given justice. But we will continue to respect and honour the courts. We request our workers to remain peaceful." FORMER MINISTERS SEATED (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) FORMER RAILWAYS MINISTER, KHWAJA SAAD RAFIQ, SAYING: "We will not walk with bowed heads. God willing, we will keep our heads up. This is not the first time this has happened to us, it has happened again and again. We know very well what the crime of Nawaz Sharif and the Muslim League is. What do we ask for? We ask for civil supremacy in Pakistan. What do we ask for? We come to the parliaments through elections and are humiliated and dislodged from the parliaments. After that, we end up in jails." JOURNALISTS SEATED (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) FORMER MINISTER OF PLANNING AHSAN IQBAL SAYING: "Today, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif held a meeting with party members, and he told them in clear words that we are going to defend the mandate of the Pakistani people. And God willing, the Muslim League government will complete its mandate until June 4, 2018. And we will use our legal and constitutional options." END OF NEWS CONFERENCE
- Embargoed: 11th August 2017 17:24
- Keywords: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Pakistan's Supreme Court Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party Pakistan PM resign
- Location: ISLAMABAD , PAKISTAN
- City: ISLAMABAD , PAKISTAN
- Country: Pakistan
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0016RMV77R
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Pakistan's Supreme Court disqualified Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from office on Friday (July 28) over undeclared assets, plunging the nuclear-armed South Asian nation into political turmoil after a period of relative stability.
Sharif swiftly resigned, but a member of his outgoing cabinet implied that the powerful military had a hand in his ouster. Sharif has not spoken in public since the court ruling, but his now former railways minister, Khawaja Saad Rafiq, hinted in a press briefing on Friday that the military was in some way involved.
"We know very well what the crime of Nawaz Sharif and the Muslim League is. What do we ask for? We ask for civil supremacy in Pakistan," Rafiq said.
Sharif's two previous stints in power were also cut short, one by a military coup in 1999, but he returned from exile to win a resounding victory in general elections in 2013. Pakistan's military has denied any involvement in the legal case and did not respond to requests for official comment on Friday. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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