Pakistani high court orders prime minister removed from office

Pakistan’s Supreme Court voted unanimously to disqualify Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from holding office and ordered criminal corruption charges filed against him and his family. The court found Sharif had failed to be “truthful and honest” about his family’s assets. The judges ordered the country’s Election Commission to remove Sharif from office, but he resigned instead, saying he wanted to show respect for the judiciary. After the ruling, Sharif met with members of his Pakistan Muslim League party to discuss nominating his successor, who will serve until the next general election in March 2018. Sharif’s downfall began in 2016 with the Panama Papers, which showed his son owned several offshore companies. Court-appointed investigators determined in July the family had significantly more wealth than it had declared from known sources of income.