Will quit if proven guilty in Panama Papers probe: Pak PM

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday said that he will quit if corruption worth a single penny is proved against him amid growing demands by the opposition parties to probe the premier's family first in the
Panama Papers leak.

Panama Papers, a massive leak of 11.5 million tax documents that reportedly exposed the secret offshore dealings of around 140 political figures globally, named three of Sharif's four children -- Maryam, Hasan and Hussain -- listing them as owners of offshore companies.

Sharif had formed a high-level judicial commission which will be led by a retired Supreme Court judge to probe the leak.

Sharif has vowed to quit if proved guilty of graft or misappropriation.

"If corruption worth a single penny is proved against me, I will not wait for a moment to quit," he said while addressing a public gathering in Bannu town of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Meanwhile, major opposition parties met in Islamabad to decide how to launch the probe, after Sharif last month asked the chief justice of the Supreme Court to set up a commission to probe allegation of corruption against those mentioned in the leaked documents.

Pakistan People's Party senior leader Aitzaz Ahsan said after the meeting that opposition parties had prepared the terms of reference for the commission.

"The process of accountability needs to be initiated, and the prime minister and his family should be the first to be probed by the inquiry commission set-up to probe Panama Papers," said Ahsan.

He also said that all opposition parties already rejected the ToRs presented earlier by the government.

However, in a relief to Sharif, the opposition parties could not agree on the issue of demanding resignation of Sharif.

"There are just allegations against the prime minister and why we should ask him to resign unless he is proven guilty," said Asadullah Bhutto of Jamaat-i-Islami.