Govt, opposition poles apart on commission

NA debate on Panama Papers

Ministers say whoever has any objections to commission should approach court; Khursheed Shah says govt woos foreign investment but PM’s own family lacks trust in investment environment; asks govt to hire an international company to conduct audit; Imran seeks forensic audit by a foreign company, proposes commission under supervision of CJP;
JI, AML advise govt to involve SC in probing matter

ISLAMABAD: The opposition in the National Assembly on Thursday categorically rejected the judicial commission proposed by Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif to investigate the Panama Papers leaks about the offshore companies owned by his family members and demanded that the matter should be investigated by an international audit company of repute.

However, defiant ministers defending Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif’s family said whoever had any objections to the constitution of a judicial commission should approach the court.

Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah and PTI Chairman Imran Khan advised the prime minister and his government to take the issue seriously, as the leaks were directly linked to the financial matters of his immediate family.

The parliamentary leaders of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and Awami Muslim League also advised the government to involve the Supreme Court in probing the matter.

During the speech of Minister for Defence Production Rana Tanveer, members from the PTI and government benches exchanged angry words. However, Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq silenced both sides.

As the opposition parties demanded an independent probe into the Panama leaks, Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif and other government members, while defending the prime minister, maintained that the PML-N leadership was ready to face accountability.

“We have faced tough times during Musharraf’s days and our leadership will once again come out of this crisis with success,” he said. The National Assembly started a debate on the leaks on a motion moved by Minister for Law Zahid Hamid under Rule 259 of the Rules and Business for conduct of the House.

Initiating the discussion, Syed Khursheed Shah questioned the moral authority of the PML-N leadership following the Panama leaks. “In politics, moral authority is more powerful than the law. The Sharif family’s investment might be legal but politicians should stand high on moral grounds,” he said.

Khursheed asked under what moral authority the incumbent government could invite foreign investors to invest in Pakistan when the prime minister’s own family members had no trust in the country’s investment environment.

He said the Panama papers had raised certain issues of tax-evasion and investment. “Instead of a judicial commission, the government should hire an international audit company of repute toconduct the audit without any pressure,” he said.

He said on the one hand, the government had announced tax amnesty scheme to incentivize people to pay taxes, on the other investments were made in offshore companies to evade tax. He asked the prime minister to tell the nation who had pushed him to address the nation twice.

PTI Chairman Imran Khan said they will have no option but to come out on the roads if the commission to probe the matter was not empowered and investigations were not transparent. “Allegations have not been leveled by the opposition but a consortium of journalists thoroughly scrutinised papers,” he said.

He said now his workers would not gather at the D-Chowk rather they would move to Raiwind to agitate. He said instead of responding to the allegations, the government was hurling accusations at the Shaukat Khanum Hospital and his Bani Gala property.

He said $3 three million endowment money of hospital that was spent abroad was taken out of the country through laundering. "The same amount was brought back to the country in 2015," he said, adding that the charity hospital's over 40 percent funds were donated by overseas sources.

Imran offered himself and Shaukat Khanum Hospital for accountability by an independent judicial body. He said Panama Papers leaks had raised major issues including tax evasion, money laundering and hiding of assets from the Election Commission of Pakistan.

He said the issue had afforded an opportunity to address the ills of our tax system and resolve the financial and economic problems of the country. He said there should be independent inquiry and the NAB should be made genuinely independent. He said a foreign company should be hired for forensic audit. He also proposed a commission under the supervision of Chief Justice of Pakistan.

Khawaja Muhammad Asif said the names of prime minister’s children were mentioned in Panama Papers but there was no reference of the prime minister himself.  Despite this, he said, the prime minister addressed the nation and explained the background of his family business.

He said many other names had also been listed in the Panama Papers but none of them clarified their position. He said the prime minister had announced a high-level judicial commission which will have comprehensive terms of reference to ensure transparency in investigations.

About demand of the Leader of Opposition Khursheed Shah for forensic audit by a company, Asif said anyone could appear before the commission and produce any evidence. Without naming the PTI top leader, the defence minister said his charity organisation had also invested abroad.

Minister for Defence Production Rana Tanvir Hussain said the government had already offered to do anything to get to the bottom of facts. He said there was no allegation against the Prime Minister in Panama Papers and he had made no wrong declaration before the Election Commission.

He said in any society grown-up children had every right to undertake any legal business but the criticism of commission at this stage was unjustified and the opposition should wait for the Terms of References (TORs) of the commission which would be announced shortly.

However, he said the opposition would have a right to agitate if restrictions were placed on the working of the commission.

Sahibzada Tariqullah of JI said an impartial inquiry commission should be set up in consultation with the Chief Justice of Pakistan and the opposition. He said the commission should be empowered enough to carry out transparent investigations. Minister for States and Frontier Regions Abdul Qadir Baloch pointed out that nowhere in Panama Papers had it been alleged that the children of prime minister had laundered money.

He said it had only been said that they had invested money in off shore companies. He said instead of wasting time on politicisation of such issues, the opposition should raise issues that directly impact on people of Pakistan.