Pressure is mounting on Pakistan’s governing party to elect an interim leader following the dramatic resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.<br /><br />A unanimous decision by the country’s Supreme Court to disqualify him from office is likely to shift Pakistan’s tumultuous political balance.<br /><br />The charges stem from disclosures in the Panama Papers in 2015 linking his children to offshore companies.<br /><br />Lawyers opposed to the ousted prime minister cheered as the decision was announced. Some even took to the streets marching and chanting anti-sharif slogans.<br /><br />Allegations of corruption have dogged Nawaz Sharif since the 1980s.<br /><br />Political analyst Mazhar Abbas says this decision will either strengthen the country’s democracy or weaken it. But he said looking at it in a larger context, “this decision will go as an historic decision to make Pakistan free from corruption.”<br /><br />The Supreme Court has also ordered a criminal investigation focusing on the Sharif family. <br /><br />The Pakistan Muslim League, must now choose a new leader to govern until the next general election, which is scheduled for mid-2018.<br />
