AKIPRESS.COM - Pakistan’s Supreme Court, in a landmark ruling Friday, disqualified former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and others from holding public office for lying and dishonesty, Voice of America reported.

Sharif, 67, resigned from office in July after the top court found him guilty of concealing a foreign source of income.

After Sharif’s ouster from office last year, his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party elected Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as his successor to enable the party to complete its mandated five-year term due to end in June before the country holds new elections later this year.

Friday’s unanimous verdict by a five-judge panel of the highest court merely addressed an ambiguity over whether disqualifications handed down under relevant constitutional provisions requiring public office holders to be “truthful” and “honest” are for life or a specific time period.