ZULFIQAR AHMAD
ISLAMABAD: The meeting of 12-member parliamentary committee on Friday ended up in deadlock after the government rejected all the fifteen questions presented by the joint opposition to formulate terms of reference (ToRs) for the judicial commission to hold probe into the Panama Leaks.
“The fifteen questions proposed by the joint opposition were discussed. The government members did not accept these in the present form and proposed that these should be re-submitted or re-articulated,” said a statement issued by the government.
Senator Aitzaz Ahsan of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) told reporters that it is out of question the joint opposition would agree to remove Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s name from the ToRs for an inquiry into the Panama Papers scandal.
“The opposition stands by its demand that accountability must begin from the prime minister and his family as he’s the chief executive of the country,” said Aitzaz, who is a member of the 12-member ToR committee.
He maintained that the name of the prime minister should be incorporated in the probe as it involves his children – Maryam Safdar, Hassain and Hassan, adding this is the reason the joint opposition did not budge from its stance that the accountability process must start from the chief executive of the country.
“Media reports are baseless that we [opposition] have agreed to exclude prime minister’s name…I want to clarify that no such proposal or offer for immunity to PM is agreed upon,” he added.
He said the opposition presented its 15 questions in the meeting, but the government side did not completely agree. “Our ToRs are comprehensive and we will remain stick to our 15 questions.”
Ahsan also dispelled the impression that there is any difference among opposition parties, saying that “we all are united and will not succumb to pressure from any side.”
Speaking to reporters on the occasion, Shah Mehmood Qureshi of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), who is also a member of the committee, said talks did not make any headway due to a deadlock.
He said the two sides did not move ahead even a single inch.
“We will do a complete accord not partial,” Qureshi said, and warned that if government did not accept 15 points, the opposition would refuse all preambles discussed in previous meetings.
The committee has agreed, in principle, on the preamble of ToRs.
A statement issued by the government said the panel continued discussion on ToRs, proposed by the government and opposition.
“The government committee members’ response to the opposition members’ document titled “Government’s Para-wise reply to Joint Opposition’s submission on ToRs dated May 26, 2016” was circulated by the government side among the members of the committee,” it added.
It further stated the government side also circulated among the members a document mentioning relevant legal provisions/comments relating to the 15 questions contained in the said Joint Opposition’s ToRs.
The committee agreed to continue its discussion on ToRs in subsequent meetings, adding the opposition members stated that they had proposed to drop question numbers (xii) and (xiii) subject to the acceptance of the remaining thirteen questions by the government members.
It further said that Zahid Hamid, the minister for law and justice, has been included as member of the parliamentary committee on the Panama Papers in place of Khawaja Muhammad Asif.
“There will be no ex-officio member of the Parliamentary Committee on the Panama Papers,” it added.
Ishaq Dar, Aitzaz Ahsan, Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo, Muhammad Ali Saif and Ilyas Ahmad Bilour; Zahid Hamid, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Anusha Rehman, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Sahibzada Tariq Ullah and Chaudhary Tariq Bashir Cheema attended the meeting.
The next meeting will be held on Monday at 4pm.
