- Differences exist over inclusion of PM’s name in TORs, broadening of scope of investigation, commencing probe from PM’s family and making Panama Papers part of new accountability law
- Opposition says a new govt proposed act will prevent accountability of the ruling family
Yet another meeting between the government and opposition parties failed to find common ground on the Terms of References (TORs) concerning the Panama Leaks probe, as the deadline of 15 days announced by the opposition parties expired on expired on Tuesday.
The parliamentary committee, however, will continue to meet despite the expiration of the deadline and despite the fact that several meetings between the two sides have proved fruitless and the deadlock continues.
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Aitzaz Ahsan said that the opposition has agreed to three out of the four TORs presented by the government but the situation has still not changed. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that the government wants to prevent action against some of the offshore companies.
Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique said that the opposition’s TORs cater to the investigation of a single individual instead of dealing with across the board accountability.
Conflict between both sides persists over four points as the opposition wants the name of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family included in the TORs and investigation carried out against them, whereas the government wants the scope of investigation to be widened.
POINTS OF CONTENTION:
- The government side says that the name of the PM should not be included in the TORs. However, opposition members say that the investigation into the matter cannot be completed without the accountability of PM Nawaz.
- The government demands that investigation against all Pakistanis named in the Panama Papers as well as the loan waivers be carried out at the same time, whereas the opposition is of the view that investigation must be initiated from Prime Minister Sharif’s family.
- While the government is open to formation of a permanent law that deals with the investigation of all sorts of corruption, it is reluctant to make the Panama Papers part of the law’s purview. The opposition, on the other hand, is trying its best that any such legislation must include the Papers as well.
- The final point of contention between the two sides is that the opposition believes that the government is about to make amendment in the Income Tax Act, after the introduction of the budget, which will ensure that no accountability is done of the ruling party’s family.
The next meeting of the parliamentary committee will be held on Friday at 11:30am.
HOPES DASHED, DREAMS SHATTERED:
The committee held its first meeting on May 24 and so far six such meetings have taken place but aside from agreement on a four-point preamble and some other points, deadlock persists between both sides on most issues.
The parliamentary committee was formed with the consensus of the government and the opposition parties to put together joint TORs aimed at probing the Panama Papers allegations against the Sharif family and other Pakistanis. Both the government and the opposition parties are represented by six members each on the committee.
Panama Papers refer to data leaked from a law firm, Mossack Fonseca, which showed that rich and powerful across the world are involved in setting up offshore accounts to hid secret wealth. The data was studied by International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and then published along with relevant documents.
Around 140 leaders of the world were named in the leaks for owning offshore companies. Nawaz Sharif was also accused by the opposition parties of having established shell companies to evade taxes and stash looted money abroad.