Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah on Tuesday said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) wanted to stage a walkout from the specially convened National Assembly session which featured a speech by the prime minister regarding the Panama Papers allegations against himself and his family.
“Before my address, Shireen Mazari told me rather harshly to ‘keep my speech short’ as they wanted to leave the House immediately,” Shah claimed.
“MQM [Muttahida Qaumi Movement] was with us in our decision to walk out,” he said.
Eyebrows were raised at the curious tactic of the opposition parties – who had gone to extreme lengths to ensure the presence of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the Parliament House – of walking out of the House immediately following the prime minister’s speech, instead of staying there and asking their questions.
They had boycotted both the National Assembly and the Senate sessions and vowed to continue the boycott until the prime minister made an appearance. The parties released seven questions for the premier to answer days before the session, which the PM refused straightaway to answer. The PM had already said that he will only be making a policy statement when he attends the NA session. But following the speech, in which the prime minister announced the formation of a bipartisan parliamentary commission to finalise the TORs, the opposition parties left the House terming PM’s response ‘unsatisfactory’.
The very next day, however, the opposition parties said – not before releasing another 70 questions for the premier – that they were ending their boycott of the two houses and would also participate in the parliamentary committee announced by the PM.
Earlier, PTI Chairman Imran Khan explained, in the press briefing shortly after the walkout: “We didn’t need to hear such a long story. He could have shown the documents as I have done.”
Prime Minister Sharif has been under pressure since documents were released as part of the Panama Papers which showed that his children owned several offshore companies and used them to buy properties in London.
He denies wrongdoing, as do his children.
The leak of documents from a Panamanian law firm has captured global attention, uncovering among other things the use of offshore businesses by wealthy individuals and corporations worldwide.
While such offshore companies are often not illegal per se, their use spurs suspicions of illegal activity, such as money laundering, corruption, and tax evasion.
