- Govt says it is willing to amend Pakistan Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1956 to give more powers to the commission; Govt also offers to resume talks on TORs for Panama Leaks investigation
- Opp Leader Shah asks govt to support opposition’s bill rather than amending the 1956 Act; Tells govt to ‘talk to Barrister Aitzaz’ if it wants to resume Parliamentary Committee’s sessions
As the date for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek’s (PAT) anti-government protests approaches, the government has settled on a two-pronged response to the situation – it has once again offered to sit with the opposition parties to formulate Terms of Reference (TORs) for the Panama Leaks probe and it announced to introduce amendments in the Pakistan Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1956 in the National Assembly in order to give more powers to enquiry commissions that are formed under the Act.
As the PTI, Awami Muslim League (AWL) and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) head to the streets, the rest of the political parties in the opposition parties’ alliance have decided to stick to a parliament-centred solution to the problem.
Led by PPP, the parties have decided to bring a bill in the parliament – a move that is symbolic at best as without the government’s support in the National Assembly, the bill does not have a chance of passing. PAT, not a part of the original 9, has also decided to start its own protest campaign ahead of the PTI’s.
Opposition parties have rejected the idea of amending the Commissions of Inquiry Act and have called upon the government to support their bill.
Opposition Leader Khursheed Shah on Monday said that the government had decided to amend the 1956 Act through the National Assembly (NA) to amend powers of the Panama Leaks enquiry commission, a private news channel reported.
However, he said that in order to pass the amendment through Senate, the deadlock over TORs will have to be addressed. He criticised the government saying amendment in the 1956 Act will never assist the process of Panama Leaks investigation.
He said the opposition had decided to present a bill over the TORs in the parliament. While the government may introduce its amendment bill in the National Assembly, the opposition parties have decided to present their bill in the Senate on August 5.
GOVT ALSO ‘READY’ TO GO BACK TO TORS COMMITTEE TO END DEADLOCK:
Shah said that NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq called him to hold a session to end the deadlock over Panama Leaks but that he had asked Sadiq to contact Senator Aitzaz Ahsan in this regard.
Shah also met Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Shireen Mazari and Shafqat Mahmood and took them into confidence over the Senate’s representation in the Public Accounts Committee.
A well placed source confirmed to Pakistan Today that the government had indeed adopted a two-pronged strategy to deal with the threat of street agitation.
“The government wishes to resolve the Panama Leaks issue in the parliament and not on the roads. We have received a green signal from PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and we hope to convince Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan to engage in dialogue.”
The source said that the government was going to fresh proposals to the opposition to resolve the crisis.
“We will amend the Inquiry Commissions Act 1956 to give it more powers. We will assure the opposition that the amendments made in the act will empower the commission to not only get cases registered against those accused but may also decide the clauses under which a person may be tried once proven guilty,” the source said.
Asked if this will address the opposition parties’ demand as they want the trial to start from the prime minister, the PML-N leader said that the opposition may come up with more amendments when the bill is presented in the assembly and is moved to the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Law.
“We are open to more amendments if the opposition parties want. But things need to be discussed at a parliamentary forum rather than staging protest rallies on the roads,” the source added.
Asked if the government believed the opposition parties would agree to hold further sessions on the TORs after it had categorically said there was no hope of a resolution through the committee because the government was not serious in resolving the issue, he said there were signs a breakthrough might happen.
“We have contacted the opposition leaders and we have received an encouraging response. We hope to resolve the matter sooner rather than later,” the source added.
‘TALK TO THE HAND,’ THAT’S WHAT PPP TOLD PML-N:
PPP Information Secretary Faisal Karim Kundi confirmed that the federal government had contacted Leader of Opposition Syed Khurshid Shah and offered an olive branch.
However, he said that Shah had advised the government to contact Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan who was dealing with the party’s policy on the TORs.
“PPP will try to take all opposition parties along on our campaign against Panamagate,” he said.
Kundi said that his party had already adopted a different stance than the PTI over street agitation as the PPP wants to deal with Panamagate within the available forums.
PPP TO STICK WITH ‘AVAILABLE FORUMS’ FOR NOW:
“We want to deal with the Panama Leaks issue inside the parliament. We also have moved the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) seeking disqualification of the prime minister and his close family members in light of Panama Papers revelations. We also plan to move against them in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). We may also go to the courts,” he added.
Asked if there was any possibility the PPP could join the PTI on the roads against the government, Kundi said that before turning to the streets, the PPP will exhaust all legal and parliamentary options so that the people may then follow this course of action.
The PTI has already announced a drive against the government. The PTI will take a rally from Peshawar to Rawalpindi starting August 7. It has also announced weekly protests against the government until it agrees to a fair and effective probe into the Panama Leaks scandal.
As long as Zardari party is involved nothing will emerge. He is just waiting to see Nawaz succeed through delaying tactics. Only Barrister Aitezaz can be trusted. It is once again a time for him to decide for the good of the nation and country. He did not do so earlier when the entire country was looking up to the Barrister.
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