Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah on Thursday formally forwarded to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif the Terms of References (TORs), jointly compiled by the opposition parties to probe the Panama Leaks, urging him to accept the TORs, as Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan said that he would not allow removal of even one point of the TORs sent to the government.
Opposition Leader Shah sent a one-page letter along with the TORs to the prime minister.
In the letter, Shah told Prime Minister Nawaz that the opposition was willing to have a dialogue with the government on the TORs framed for the commission probing the Panama Leaks.
Sources said that after receiving Shah’s letter, the prime minister held a consultative session with his cabinet ministers and close aides to discuss the contents of the letter and the TORs proposed by the government.
Talking to a private news channel later in the day, Khursheed Shah said that they had never refused to hold negotiations on the TORs as only a dictator would deny dialogue. He said that there was nothing wrong with the TORs framed by the opposition parties. He said that the prime minister needs to provide answers regarding his sons being named in the Panama Papers.
“If sons of a country’s prime minister do not pay taxes then how can he expect others to pay them,” Shah said, adding that the PM was trying to prove his innocence by spending millions of rupees in advertisements propagating his stance.
Shah said that the PPP was aware that the late Benazir Bhutto would not become the country’s prime minister for the third time, adding that an amendment was done in the constitution during PPP’s tenure to ensure that Nawaz Sharif does take the throne for the third time.
“Why would we want Nawaz Sharif to lose his office then,” he asked. The PPP senior leader said that the opposition parties wanted accountability of everyone. But the process should start with PM Nawaz and his family, he added.
Shah said that transparent investigation of the Panama Leaks revelations could only be done through the TORs presented by the opposition parties. The prime minister should not avoid investigation when he has been claiming innocence since the start of the Panama uproar, he said.
PTI WON’T BUDGE ON TORs:
Meanwhile, the most vocal critic of the prime minister, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has said that expulsion of even a single point from the TORs would mean an end to the investigation.
“We will not allow any commission that is not based on the TORs formulated by the joint opposition parties,” he said while talking in a news channel’s talkshow.
“Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is putting his entire government on stake just to hide his corruption,” he said.