Senators unanimously approved passage of a motion calling for the formation of a 12-member committee to draft Terms of Reference (TORs) to probe the Panama Leaks on Friday, as Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani left the House in protest.
Rabbani left the Upper House as Law Minister Zahid Hamid had moved a motion which had not been discussed with him prior to the session.
Hamid on Thursday moved a motion in the National Assembly envisaging the formation of an eight-member committee instead of the previously agreed upon 12-members. The motion caused uproar in the House, with opposition lawmakers furious over the change. Eventually, the motion was reverted to reflect a 12-member committee.
Rabbani maintained that keeping the Al-Jihad Trust case in mind, if the National Assembly takes up a motion regarding corruption before the Senate, it is necessary to consult with the senate chairman before moving it in the Upper House.
As he had not been consulted and did not endorse the motion, Rabbani left the house, leaving Barrister Javed Abbasi to handle proceedings as the presiding officer.
Abbasi put forth the resolution, which was unanimously endorsed by the senators.
The motion maintains that the committee will consider options for inquiring into the issues raised by the Panama Papers including offshore companies, transfer from Pakistan of funds originating from corruption, commission or kickbacks and loan write-offs.
The committee will determine the priority level of each of the above. The formulation of the TOR and a timeline for submission will be decided by the committee, which must submit a report to the parliament within two weeks, the motion said.
MQM JOINS OPPOSITION INQUIRY COMMITTEE:
After a nearly three-hour meeting of the opposition parties, Leader of Opposition Khurshid Shah announced that Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) will also be a part of the opposition’s six-member inquiry committee.
MQM members had earlier been excluded from the committee as the opposition wanted the party to publicly declare they are part of the opposition and will go along with whatever decision is taken.
MQM Senator Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif will represent the party in the six-member opposition committee in place of Aftab Ahmed Sherpao, Khursheed Shah said.
The opposition leader urged NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq to convene the first meeting of the 12-member committee on Monday.
Previously, the joint opposition announced a six-member team which included Aitezaz Ahsan of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Shah Mehmood Qureshi of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Sahabzada Tariq Ullah of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Ilyas Bilour of Awami National Party (ANP), Tariq Basheer Cheema of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) and Aftab Sherpao of Qaumi Watan Party (QWP).
However, on Friday Aftab Sherpao gave up his position making way for Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif of the MQM. The opposition leader has also written a letter to the National Assembly speaker about the matter.
On Friday, Minister of Law and Justice Zahid Hamid introduced a motion to this effect. NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq has been trusted with the formation of the committee. He has also been given the role of monitoring and conducting the affairs of the committee as he will be able to add a replacement of a member on the recommendation of the party leader from which that member hails
On Thursday a rare sight was witnessed in the National Assembly as the treasury benches championed the cause of MQM’s inclusion in the committee. Both Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Railways Minister Khwaja Saad Rafiq asked the opposition to include MQM as it sits on the opposition benches and is the fourth largest party in the House.
Senator Khurshid Shah later said that there were some issues that needed to be addressed and in the meeting with the MQM leadership these issues have been talked over.
Ayaz Sadiq also met PM Nawaz Sharif on Friday and it is now likely that the notification of the committee will be issued soon.
“We won’t ask the PM to resign until he is proven guilty by a court of law. We call for across-the-board accountability of all sections without discrimination,” said Awami National Party President Asfandyar Wali while talking to media.