Pakistan Prime Minister Offers to Resign If Implicated in Shooting of Opposition Leader

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has offered to resign if there is any evidence linking him or his interior minister to the shooting which injured his immediate predecessor Imran Khan.

Sharif said in a press conference in Lahore Saturday that he would lose the right to continue as the nation’s Prime Minister if any evidence against him is uncovered. Khan had blamed Sharif, Pakistan’s interior minister Rana Sanaullah, and prominent generals for the shooting that left him with an injured leg on Thursday while leading a march toward the capital Islamabad to demand an early national election that isn’t due until later next year.

Sharif has called on the Chief Justice of Pakistan to establish a full court commission in the interests of the nation and justice. He warned that if the Supreme Court remains silent on this issue, it will do great damage to the country.

Khan said that the march will restart from Tuesday, but he will not be leading it. He also called for removing the accused in the shooting incident from their roles before the court commission starts the inquiry.

A panel of legal and constitutional experts has been formed by the government in order to investigate the claims made by Khan and his colleagues. If these claims are found to be false, Sharif's office has stated that action will be taken against them.