Pakistan opposition ends plan to lock down capital

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – A Pakistani opposition party has cancelled controversial plans to lock down the capital Islamabad on Tuesday, after the country's highest court met their demand to investigate corruption allegations against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party will still gather in Islamabad on Wednesday for what they are now dubbing a "Thanksgiving Day" for supporters who have travelled from around the country to join the mass protest.

"Go home and rest. You have to come back tomorrow to celebrate the Thanksgiving Day," Khan told cheering supporters outside his residence, where he had been placed under house arrest ahead of the protest.

Welcoming PTI’s decision, the government ordered the release of around 1,800 activists taken into custody from different parts of the country and lifted a cordon around Khan's residence.

Earlier, a full bench of the Supreme Court asked the government and PTI to submit proposals on the formation of a judicial commission to investigate the allegations.

If the two sides failed to reach a consensus, according to PTI counsel Hamid Khan, the court itself will decide the terms of the judicial commission itself.

The scope of such a commission has been a major bone of contention between the government and opposition, after an earlier government proposal was rejected by the Chief Justice, who believed the scope was too limited for an effective investigation.

Sharif has been under pressure from opposition parties and the media after the Panama Papers leak earlier this year -- which affected politicians and businessmen around the world -- revealed his two sons Hassan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz and his daughter Mariyam Nawaz owned offshore companies.

Earlier this year, Sharif's eldest son, Hussain Nawaz, admitted in an interview with a local television that his family owned offshore companies and properties. He insisted the transactions were all legal and refused to make his assets public, claiming such a move might harm his business interests.

Sharif came to power for a third term following his right-wing Pakistan Muslim League party’s landslide victory in the 2013 elections.

His previous two terms as prime minister ended prematurely under pressure from Pakistan military and there is speculation the corruption allegations could mean he is again forced from the post.