- Railways Minister Saad Rafique says efforts being made to develop a consensus
- PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi says govt bloc not showing any flexibility
While the government bloc denies there’s a deadlock over the Terms of Reference (TORs) for a judicial probe into the Panama Leaks, the opposition team asserts there’s an impasse, as the two sides again failed to make any headway on Saturday.
Federal Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique, who is part of the parliamentary committee constituted to formulate TORs, denied there was any deadlock, saying that efforts were being made to develop a consensus.
“It has been our stance from day one that the TORs must not be person-specific,” he told a bevy of journalists outside the Parliament House.
Rafique said that government’s members were not mentally prepared for the fifth round of talks due to the recent surgery of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in London.
Rafique, to a question, said that it was part of Pakistani political culture that opposition parties would always take a harder stance on every issue. The minister however said, “We have handed over new TORs to the opposition for deliberation.”
Later a statement issued by the government said that opposition members asked for time for deliberation and consultation over the new TORs.
On the other hand, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that a deadlock still persisted as the government team was not showing any flexibility on the issue. “The situation remains the same,” he asserted.
He said that National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq and Opposition Leader Khursheed Shah met him and expressed concern over the deadlock in talks.
Pakistan People’s Party leader Aitzaz Ahsan, however, said that some progress was made in the fifth round of talks between the two sides. “The government has handed over some TORs to the opposition for consultation,” he said.
The parliamentary committee will now meet on Tuesday at 4:00pm.
