The opposition parties on Monday boycotted proceedings of both houses of parliament over Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s continued absence from parliament and his failure to explain his position on the Panama Leaks scandal.
Leader of the House in Senate Aitzaz Ahsan was instrumental in taking the decision to boycott both Houses.
Ahsan chaired a meeting of the parliamentary leaders in the Senate and the meeting decided that if Prime Minister Nawaz does not attend the meeting to answer the joint opposition’s questions about his and his family’s offshore holdings as revealed in the Panama Papers, the opposition would boycott the session.
In a complete reversal of roles since the 2014 sit-ins when the prime minister found solace in his parliamentary allies and even the opposition, the opposition has now teamed up and are on the attack while the prime minister is forced to hang on to his dwindling allies as he holds public gatherings in a bid to change public sentiment, while the opposition takes full control of the parliament.
The PTI, among other political parties, is now telling the prime minister that matters of national importance should be resolved in the parliament, something the prime minister harped on every day in the parliament in 2014.
Speaking in the Senate, Ahsan said Prime Minister Nawaz and his family have been accused of corruption.
“The PM should present details of income tax and offshore assets of his family before the House,” Ahsan said, and added, Balochistan’s finance secretary is in for stashing away Rs 730 million in corruption money, while those who are hiding Rs 7 billion are still at large.”
Ahsan said that the prime minister should come to the parliament and remove any confusion about his assets. He said that the opposition will continue its protest on a daily basis until the prime minister makes an appearance in the House.
Ahsan said the prime minister is trying to avoid the parliament in order to conceal facts.
HOLIER THAN WHO?:
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Senator Mushahidullah Khan, while responding to the allegations leveled by Ahsan said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s party members — Abdul Aleem Khan, Jahangir Khan Tareen and Zulfiqar Bukhari have also been named in Panama Papers. He said there should a legal forum to resolve such issues, but the opposition has boycotted all legal forums.
In the evening, Aitzaz attended the meeting of the opposition parties in the National Assembly. Opposition leader Syed Khursheed Shah chaired the meeting.
Earlier, at the start of the 31st session of the National Assembly, the opposition members demanded the prime minister clear his position on the Panama Leaks on the floor of the House.
The charged opposition members wanted the premier stop addressing public gatherings and participate in the proceedings of the House.
Barbs were exchanged between the opposition and treasury benches when Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed asked the NA speaker to start the debate on the Panama Leaks. He said that the democratic system will be in jeopardy if the government keeps shying away from the questions raised by the nation.
The federal government was represented by Minister for SAFRON Abdul Qadir Baloch who asked Sheikh Rashid not to use derogatory language against the prime minister and his family. NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq had to intervene and bring the situation under control.
Later, Opposition Leader Shah said that the prime minister should clarify his position on the floor of the House.
RUNNING AWAY WON’T WORK:
Shah said that the prime minister is likely to fall victim to the ill-advised strategy he has chosen to pursue over the opposition parties’ sincere advice to bring the Panama Papers issue to the floor of the parliament. He said rather than coming to the parliament and clarifying his position, the prime minister was travelling all over the country and addressing public meetings to level accusations against the opposition.
“The opposition wants to settle the issue in a democratic way but the PM seems like he doesn’t want to go that way and might repeat the mistakes of the past,” he said.
PTI’s Shah Mahmood Qureshi also demanded that the prime minister should come to the parliament and clear up his position telling him that public support and show of strength cannot protect him from having to explain how he had amassed his assets.
“We have not asked the prime minister to step down. The terms of reference (TORs) prepared by the opposition parties for the judicial commission on Panama Papers only urge him explain his position,” he added.
Qureshi said that when the PTI was staging a sit-in in 2014, the PML-N always advised that parliament was the right forum.
“But today the government has adopted other channels like holding public rallies and placing state-funded advertisements in support of the PM,” Shah said and added that the government could not follow its own instructions.
He also criticised the PM’s address in which he said there was no difference between terrorists and agitators and claimed that the opposition parties, including the PTI, supported the government in the fight against terrorists and said it was unacceptable for the PM to treat his critics as terrorists.
Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Parliamentary Leader Dr Farooq Sattar also supported the views expressed by leaders of other major opposition parties.
He said the MQM stands by the rest of the opposition on the Panama Papers issue.
Later, Shah announced that the opposition was boycotting the session. All members of the opposition parties followed as Speaker Ayaz Sadiq gave the floor to Danial Aziz to respond to the criticism of the opposition.
Speaker Ayaz Sadiq asked federal ministers to go and persuade the opposition lawmakers to end their boycott but they could not persuade them to return to the House.
PML-N leader Danial Aziz said that immediately after the release of the Panama Papers, the prime minister volunteered himself and his family for accountability.
The lawmakers belonging to FATA also staged a token walkout to show solidarity with the FATA teachers protesting in Islamabad.
Danial Aziz, in his speech, said that the walkout of the opposition showed that the opposition wanted to run away from accountability.
Newly elected members of MQM and PML-N also took oath on Monday. Muhammad Kamal of MQM and Khalid Magsi of PML-N became members of the house after signing the roll. The House observed one minute of silence in memory of the assassinated PTI leader Sardar Soran Singh.
Later, the NA speaker adjourned the session till Tuesday (today).
