Pakistan's PM Sharif faces further investigation

Pakistani opposition party lawmakers on Friday demanded that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif step down during an investigation into his and his family's finances.

Opposition leader Imran Khan said he would lead protests demanding Sharif's resignation, saying the prime minister had lost the moral authority to stay in office while being investigated.

The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday there was insufficient evidence to order Sharif's removal from office but called for further investigation into corruption allegations following the release of The Panama Papers.

TRT World's Nafisa Latic has this report on the ruling and the family.

Joint team to continue corruption probe

A five-member Supreme Court was split 3-2 in favour of Sharif retaining his position, when it made its ruling on Thursday.

On Friday, opposition lawmakers chanted slogans demanding Sharif's resignation and tore up the legislative assembly's agenda for the day, before the house speaker suspended the session.

"I was the petitioner in the case, the hearing continued for four months, at least I should have been allowed to speak in the parliament," Khan, a former cricket star, said outside the assembly.

The Supreme Court, in its 549-page judgement, ordered a joint investigation team be formed to look into allegations around three of Sharif's four children using offshore companies to buy properties in London.

The investigating team has two months to complete its inquiry, after which a special bench will decide what action to take, the court said.

The case surfaced last year when The Panama Papers linked the Sharif family to offshore businesses. But Sharif and his family have denied any wrongdoing and say that the wealth was achieved legally.