ISLAMABAD: The seventh meeting of the parliamentary committee on Friday ended without any progress regarding terms of references (ToRs) as deadlock persists between the government and the joint opposition to investigate Panama Papers.
Talking to journalists at the Parliament House after the meeting, Leader of Opposition in Senate Aitzaz Ahsan said that the next session of the committee would convene on Tuesday at 3pm. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that the government wants to ‘save’ the prime minister and his family in probe over the Panama leaks.
He said that it was in vain to attend further meetings of the committee, as his party was disappointed with the committee. He said that he would discuss the issue with party Chairman Imran Khan. He said that he has informed other opposition parties about his stance regarding not attending committee’s meetings anymore.
However, Awami National Party’s Ilyas Bilour opposed Qureshi on this and said that his party would make its representation sure whether other parties do or not. ANP would not take dictation from anyone although Qureshi has the right to give his opinion, he said.
The committee was formed with six members each from the government and the opposition to strike consensus over the terms of references to investigate alleged tax evasion and wealth stashing by the prime minister and his family using offshore companies. Establishment of shell companies are generally believed to be a way to avoid taxes on any transaction, be it buying a flat or anything else.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s daughter Maryam Safdar and sons were named in the study monitored by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Opposition parties, mainly Imran Khan called for premier’s resignation stating that he had lost ‘moral’ authority to lead the nation. The prime minister, currently in London after his open-heart surgery, already offered to form a committee to take the issue towards resolution.
