ZULFIQAR AHMAD

ISLAMABAD, May 26: The 12-member parliamentary panel comprising opposition and government lawmakers on Thursday agreed on a 4-point preamble to finalize terms of reference (ToRs) for the judicial commission that will investigate the Panama leak scandal.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, Federal Minister for Finance Senator Ishaq Dar said that opposition members provided four initial points and the government representatives tabled three points. But, later, both sides agreed on a 4-point preamble, he said.

He said that the meeting with opposition members was held in a pleasant atmosphere and hopefully the matter will be resolved amicably, adding the members have agreed to look into the ToRs formulated by both opposition and government sides.

“In the next meeting (Friday), we will discuss the preamble in order to frame consensus ToRs so that we can proceed further as we all want that a thorough probe should be conducted, which can be possible through consensus ToRs,” he added.

Senator Aitzaz Ahsan of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), who is also a member of the committee, said that out of the fifteen questions, the opposition has dropped two questions as Chief Justice of Pakistan had pointed out that it would take years to answer all the questions.

“This was the reason we dropped two questions as ultimately the top court has to hold inquiry into it and the chief justice had said that too many questions could not be answered as too many people are included in the details of these questions,” he added.

He said there had been no compromise, but “for the sake of achieving progress in negotiations and to make the process more conducive for investigation and justice, now there are thirteen clauses to be further pursued”.

Aitzaz said the opposition members agreed on a point-preamble for the ToRs, which reflects that we are fully cooperating with the government, but from their side, there seems no such response which is quite strange.

“From tomorrow (Friday), we’ll start clause by clause discussions on the proposed ToRs,” he added.

After the Chief Justice of Pakistan rejected the ToRs framed by the government, Aitzaz said it was not appropriate for the government members especially Senator Ishaq Dar to insist on the same draft, as it has already been rejected.

“We’re ready to drop two questions out of total fifteen, but there will be no compromise on thirteen questions,” he said, and admitted that there are differences between government and opposition despite agreeing to formulate consensus ToRs.

“If the government wants to include any question in the new ToRs, we’ve no objection as we’ve dropped two questions, while we need answers to our remaining thirteen questions,” he added.

Shah Memood Qureshi of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) said the fifteen questions asked by the opposition are quite valid as there is a legal question mark behind every question, adding law was not followed and that gave birth to these questions for which the opposition needed answers.

“The intention of the government should be clear as we’ll not accept any suspicious ToRs because the opposition is answerable to people. Any interference by any government member will not be tolerated as we want a meaningful inquiry into Panama leaks,” he declared.

A statement issued by the committee after the meeting said the committee on the Panama Papers discussed the ToRs proposed by government and opposition. The opposition circulated among the members of the committee another document titled “Joint opposition’s submission on ToRs dated May 26, 2016”, to which, comments of the government side will be furnished in the next meeting.

It said the committee in principle agreed on the preamble of the ToRs of the inquiry commission to be constituted in pursuance of the motions adopted by both Houses of Parliament. However, the differences on the wording of the ToRs remain and will be discussed in subsequent meetings.

Ishaq Dar, Aitzaz Ahsan, Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo, Muhammad Ali Saif and Ilyas Ahmad Bilour; Khawaja Asif, Saad Rafique, Anusha Rehman, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Sahibzada Tariqullah and Chaudhary Tariq Bashir Cheema attended the meeting.

Zahid Hamid, minister for law and justice, also attended the meeting as ex-officio member of the committee. The next meeting of the Committee will be held on Friday at 11:00am.