LONDON: A high level PML-N huddle chaired by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif decided that Finance Minister Ishaq Dar will resign from his ministry and will stay in London, sources told ARY News on Saturday.
The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Chief Minister of Punjab Shahbaz Sharif, Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif and Federal Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar along with other party leaders.
Sources said that the finance minister who has a bailable arrest warrant issued against him by an accountability court will resign to avoid National Accountability Bureau (NAB) proceedings against him.
Commenting on the development, ARY News’ Islamabad Bureau Chief Sabir Shakir said that at a time when NAB is hearing a reference against Dar and a warrant has been issued, Dar is only waiting for the Supreme Court to decide upon the reopening of Hudaibiya Paper Mills case.
“If this case (Hudaibiya Paper Mills) is reopened, he will resign and will not return to Pakistan,” added Shakir.
It is pertinent to note here that just two days ago, a NAB Lahore team raided Dar’s Islamabad house hours after an accountability court issued bailable arrest warrants against the PML-N stalwart.
The court was also hearing a reference filed by NAB against him for possessing assets beyond his known sources of income.
The national anti-graft watchdog had filed references against the Sharif family and the finance minister in compliance with the Supreme Court’s July 28 verdict in the Panama Papers case.
‘People of NA-120 voted to support my principled stance’
Earlier in the day, former PM Nawaz Sharif briefly talked to media in London and defended his statements after disqualification and maintained that people of NA-120 voted to support his “principled stance” in recent by-polls.
He also revealed that he has instructed the prime minister to personally initiate an inquiry into the disappearance of some PML-N activists during NA-120 by-polls.
On July 28, the apex court had disqualified former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and ordered the filing of references against him, his children and the finance minister in light of the Panama joint investigation team report.
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