Pakistan's prime minister ousted following Supreme Court corruption ruling

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been forced from office over long-running corruption allegations, after a supreme court decision to disqualify the leader.

Sharif was disqualified over long-standing corruption claims the Panama Papers leak last year, which linked his family to lucrative offshore businesses.

"He is disqualified as a member of the parliament so he has ceased to be holding the office of Prime Minister," Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan told the courtroom.

It has been the third time Sharif has been ousted as leader before completing his term. 

In 1993 he was sacked over graft allegations and six years later deposed in a military coup.

It is also the second time that the Pakistani Supreme Court has disqualified a sitting prime minister. 

No Pakistani prime minister has ever completed a full five-year term, falling victim to military coups, interference from the Supreme Court, being assasinated or forced to resign.

In 2012 former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani was disqualified over contempt of court charges for refusing to reopen a corruption case against the sitting President Asif Ali Zardari.