Opp bins enquiry commission’s ToRs

• PPP calls PM’s address ‘unsatisfactory’, says opposition not taken into confidence about ToRs of judicial commission
• PTI’s Shah Mahmood Qureshi says party will give its opinion on commission TORs at April 24 rally

Opposition parties, including the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Awami Muslim League (AML) on Friday rejected the government’s terms of references (ToRs) regarding establishment of a judicial commission for investigation into revelations about Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family’s alleged offshore wealth.

Reacting to PM Sharif’s televised address in which he offered to step down if proven guilty, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in a tweet demanded Nawaz step down from his post.

“Just like you demanded Yousaf Raza Gilani’s resignation, we demand your resignation,” he said.

Senator Aitzaz Ahsan said the premier’s address was “unsatisfactory”.

“We don’t accept the government’s ToRs. This is not the commission the opposition parties have been seeking to investigate the Panama Papers leaks. We (opposition) have not been taken into confidence about the ToRs of the judicial commission either,” he added.

The PPP leader said that PM Sharif was not forced into exile rather he himself went to Saudi Arabia by entering an agreement with former military ruler Pervez Musharraf. Aitzaz also challenged the prime minister on payment of taxes, saying, “Although Nawaz Sharif owns sugar, garments and many other mills and factories, I have paid more tax than him.”

Addressing a press conference, PPP Information Secretary Qamar Zaman Kaira said that the prime minister’s address was centered on self praise. “It should have been a policy statement about corruption, but the premier chose to target and taunt opposition parties and to indulge in personal attacks,” he said.

Kaira said that PM Sharif should have told the nation that he himself was brought into politics by a dictator. He said the government always tried to prolong the issues but his party would never let its wish of settling down Panama affairs come true. Kaira asserted that Army chief Raheel Sharif had taken an initiative against corruption, and now PM Sharif should also announce a clear policy against this menace.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Naeemul Haq also rejected the proposed commission, saying Sharif targeted Imran Khan in his address. “He (PTI chief) will respond to PM’s address by Saturday,” he added.

PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the party will give its official version on the commission on April 24 at the party’s foundation day rally.

Talking to media, AML chief Sheikh Rashid deplored that the prime minister resorted to personal attacks against PTI Chairman Imran Khan instead of responding to the allegations against his family.

“PM Sharif himself is the biggest product of marital laws,” remarked Rashid as he urged the PML-N head to review his approach. He also predicted that there would be at least one more speech of the prime minister in the coming days.

Not a legal notification:

Senior jurist and leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) Senator SM Zafar termed the notification about formation of the commission as incomplete, saying that “it was a mere indication of the intent of the federal government to appoint a commission. It does not carry the names of the judges on the commission”.

Zafar further said that “the purpose behind release of this notification was to indicate the intention of the prime minister to appoint a commission. Unless the commission in itself is not mentioned, there is no effective notification”.

He argued that perhaps the prime minister would appoint the commission once the chief justice of Pakistan took the responsibility to head the commission and mentions the names of other members afterwards. “Once the names of the commission members are finalised, the ministry would formally notify the commission again,” he added.