Pakistan court bans ex-PM Sharif from elections for life
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Pakistan's Supreme Court has barred former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from running in elections for life, ruling on a petition asking the tribunal whether the disqualified premier could ever run again.
The court says that under the country's constitution, no person once disqualified from office by the top court — as Sharif was — can hold public office again.
Friday's ruling effectively ended Sharif's hopes for a political future after his dismissal last July on corruption charges, stemming from leaked documents known as the Panama Papers.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Since then, confusion has persisted about whether he can run for office again.
A member of Sharif's ruling party, Information Minister Maryam Aurangzeb, angrily dismissed the ruling as a "joke."
The court also banned disqualified opposition politician Jahangir Tareen from running for office again.