ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called a meeting of the government coalition partners on Saturday and discussed the terms of references (TORs) for investigations into the Panama leaks’ allegations which have exposed 200 names of Pakistani nationals including the children of the prime minister having offshore properties.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam -Fchief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, National Party leader Mir Hasil Bizenjo and Pukhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party leader Mehmood Khan Achakzai were among the attendees of the meeting that was held at the PM House and chaired by the prime minister himself.
Furthermore, the prime minister was assisted by Minister for Interior Affairs ChaudhryNisar Ali Khan, Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs Ishaq Dar, Minister for Water and Power KhawajaAsif and Minister for Information and Broadcasting PervaizRasheed.Sources said that the prime minister took his allies into confidence about over the content of the response to the opposition parties over the ToRsfor conducting the judicial investigation into Panama Papers.
Earlier this week, the government was presented with a joint ToR by nine opposition parties including Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) which asked the government to start an accountability process from the investigation of the prime minister’s family.
According to Radio Pakistan reports, the coalition parties expressed doubts over the ToRs proposed by the opposition.Fazlhas also been reported to term the opposition’s ToRs to be contradictory to the constitution and law. He also said that the opposition parties have adopted a contradictory stance on the investigation of Panama Papers.
He said the opposition first rejected the prime minister’s proposal for the formation of a commission supervised by retired judges and even now it is not ready for the investigation to be carried out by a judge. He added that it is a matter of surprise that the opposition agrees for the investigation to be done by a bureaucrat but not by a retired judge.
