Nawaz Sharif has been under growing pressure from opposition parties, mainly Imran Khan's PTI
Islamabad, Pakistan:
Imran Khan has called off the planned shutdown of Islamabad by "one million people" after Pakistan's Supreme Court paved the way for an investigation into allegations of corruption against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family.
As it began to hear a case today into the Panama Papers Leaks, the Supreme Court offered to form a commission to investigate allegations that Mr Sharif's children had offshore accounts.
Mr Sharif has been under growing pressure from opposition parties, mainly cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), which had vowed that one million supporters would shut down Islamabad on Wednesday as part of long-running efforts to force the government out of power.
Imran Khan has called the Supreme Court's decision to allow the investigation a "historical victory" and said his party was calling off the shutdown. "Since the Supreme Court has already started investigations, they asked us to call off the protest, so we'll abide by that," the PTI said.
"I am so happy that the Supreme Court has decided that from Thursday it will begin probing Nawaz Sharif," said Mr Khan at his home on the outskirts of Islamabad.
He added that his supporters would instead hold a rally thanking the Supreme Court for its decision.
The move brought an anti-climactic end to what observers believed could have become a protracted confrontation, similar to a four-month sit-in led by Mr Khan in 2014.
But although Imran Khan had repeatedly vowed to bring a million protesters to the capital, disruption had been thus far limited to a few areas around the city and the Peshawar-Islamabad highway, where some 5,000 PTI supporters were blocked from entering the capital.
The planned protest also came at a sensitive time for Mr Sharif, whose relationship with the all-powerful Pakistan Army is at a low following the publication of a media report which said civilian officials had warned the military to stop backing jihadist fighters abroad.
The military has used the pretext of civil unrest to sweep in and replace elected governments three times in the country's history, and analysts had warned that Mr Sharif may need to strike a deal with the Army to ensure his survival.
As it began to hear a case today into the Panama Papers Leaks, the Supreme Court offered to form a commission to investigate allegations that Mr Sharif's children had offshore accounts.
Mr Sharif has been under growing pressure from opposition parties, mainly cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), which had vowed that one million supporters would shut down Islamabad on Wednesday as part of long-running efforts to force the government out of power.
Imran Khan has called the Supreme Court's decision to allow the investigation a "historical victory" and said his party was calling off the shutdown. "Since the Supreme Court has already started investigations, they asked us to call off the protest, so we'll abide by that," the PTI said.
"I am so happy that the Supreme Court has decided that from Thursday it will begin probing Nawaz Sharif," said Mr Khan at his home on the outskirts of Islamabad.
He added that his supporters would instead hold a rally thanking the Supreme Court for its decision.
The move brought an anti-climactic end to what observers believed could have become a protracted confrontation, similar to a four-month sit-in led by Mr Khan in 2014.
But although Imran Khan had repeatedly vowed to bring a million protesters to the capital, disruption had been thus far limited to a few areas around the city and the Peshawar-Islamabad highway, where some 5,000 PTI supporters were blocked from entering the capital.
The planned protest also came at a sensitive time for Mr Sharif, whose relationship with the all-powerful Pakistan Army is at a low following the publication of a media report which said civilian officials had warned the military to stop backing jihadist fighters abroad.
The military has used the pretext of civil unrest to sweep in and replace elected governments three times in the country's history, and analysts had warned that Mr Sharif may need to strike a deal with the Army to ensure his survival.
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