In an apparent response to some media reports that the opposition had agreed to remove the prime minister’s name from the draft terms, Ahsan clarified that “Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s name continues to exist [in the ToRs] by virtue of Hussain Nawaz being named in the Panama Papers”.
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Though the premier has written to the Chief Justice of Pakistan to form a judicial commission probing the leaks, the opposition has been insisting on mutually agreed terms of reference.
Deadlock has emerged between the government and opposition parties over the preparation of TORs, to investigate the Panama Leaks.
Talking to media after the meeting, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader and opposition representative in the Committee Senator Aitzaz Ahsan said that they participated in the proceedings of the Committee with an open heart and mind.
He said that no investigation can take place until the joint opposition’s ToRs are considered.
“The name of the prime minister gets incorporated in the probe owing to the investigation from his children Maryam and Hussain which is why the opposition has not stepped down from its demand of the accountability of the primer”. This automatically brings the name of the Prime Minister in the probe, since all his children are named in the Panama Papers as having offshore companies.
News of removal of Nawaz Sharif’s name from the ToRs started making rounds on the internet yesterday, but all these rumors were quashed today.
Shah Mehmood Qureshi of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) said that the government wanted to hide the corruption but they would not let it happen.
The opposition members said that they had proposed to drop question numbers 12 and 13 subject to the acceptance of the remaining 13 questions by the government members. However, the opposition refused to allow a change in the number of committee members.
Senators Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Aitzaz Ahsan, Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo, Muhammad Ali Saif and Ilyas Ahmad Bilour, and Members of the National Assembly Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Sahibzada Tariq Ullah and Ch Tariq Bashir Cheema attended the meeting as members of the committee.
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A 12-member parliamentary committee, which is tasked to draft joint ToR for an inquiry commission, held an in camera meeting on Thursday.
