Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Vice President and former federal minister Senator Sherry Rehman said on Wednesday that her party does not believe in criticism for the sake of criticism but the involvement of the PM’s family in setting up offshore companies is a serious issue and the PPP cannot remain silent anymore.
She was commenting on the recent so-called Panama Leaks, which implicated PM’s family members in offshore companies and accounts, during Pakistan Today Editor Arif Nizami’s channel 24 programme DNA on Wednesday night.
She said it is not a crime to be rich but the politicians must not conceal their assets from the public.
“The commission under the supervision of a retired judge is a ‘Mitti Pao’ Commission (Cover up Commission) rather than a truly fact finding body,” she said. Sherry further added that a retired judge will lack the ability and authority to probe the scam. She was of the view that the former wife of Punjab CM Tehmina Durrani has shown great courage in condemning the politicians who had offshore accounts and in urging them to bring their money back to Pakistan.
Answering a question, She said the PPP does not want to destabilise democracy and the party also does not want to repeat the episode of the 90s, which, she said, was the decade of destabilisation.
“Yes, we are in Islamabad to attend the parliament’s session and the joint sitting is also about to commence within the next few days. The issue of Panama Papers will be discussed in the parliament by the PPP,” she said.
Arif Nizami said in his analysis that he does not see an Iceland-style street agitation in the country in the near future over the leak of Panama Papers. He said the children of both the finance minister and the prime minister are conducting their businesses outside the country while their fathers are convincing others to bring their investment in Pakistan. He said term of references (TORs) of the judicial commission will be of great significance.
Sherry Rehman, who has also served as Pakistan’s ambassador to United States, said that foreign countries show resentment when Pakistan approaches them for financial assistance.
“The foreign countries wonder that why Pakistan does not collect taxes from the rich people there and demands financial assistance from us,” she said.