Opposition won’t go to the extent where ‘third party’ gets a chance

Khursheed Shah says Imran, Qadri’s sit-ins were scripted and caused damage to democracy; talks in Geo programme Jirga with Saleem Safi

ISLAMABAD: Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah said on Saturday that the sit-ins of Imran Khan and Dr Tahirul Qadri were scripted and caused damage to the country, but “we will not go to the extent where any third power gets an opportunity”.

Talking to Saleem Safi in the programme Jirga on Geo, the Opposition leader said at that time the sit-ins posed a huge threat to democracy and the People’s Party and other parties inside parliament worked together to foil all the conspiracies against democracy. 

Syed Khursheed Shah said that the People’s Party has always struggled for the sake of democracy and has never hesitated to offer sacrifices. He said we will continue to strengthen our institutions no matter what the situation is. 

Talking about the Panama Papers, the Opposition leader said that all the political parties of the country are on one platform. Answering a question he said that the Opposition wants that the investigation starts from the prime minister and his family and thereafter everyone should be included in the probe. 

Khursheed Shah said that the parliamentary committee formed to decide the terms of reference (ToRs) of a proposed inquiry into the Panama Papers revelations about offshore companies is working wholeheartedly to form ToRs with a consensus. 

The Opposition leader in the National Assembly said that the sit-ins of Imran Khan and Dr Tahirul Qadri were scripted and caused huge damage not only to democracy but also to the country. He said at that time these sit-ins threatened democracy and the People’s Party and all the other political parties within parliament came out to save democracy, and that is why “we supported the government and foiled all the threats to democracy”. 

Earlier talking to reporters outside the Parliament House, Khursheed Shah said that the Opposition parties had decided to go public with the deliberations held with the government during eight in-camera meetings of a parliamentary committee formed to decide the terms of reference (ToRs) of a proposed inquiry into the Panama Papers revelations about offshore companies.

“A decision has been made to put before the general public all the documents which came under discussion during the meetings of the parliamentary committee on the ToR,” Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah told reporters.

Syed Khursheed Shah said the Pakistan People’s Party’s Senator Aitzaz Ahsan would hold a press conference on Monday to explain in detail why the talks between the government and the opposition on the formulation of the ToRs had failed.

During the meeting, Mr Ahsan and Shah Mehmood Qureshi of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf had provided details of the negotiations held with the government after which it was decided “to take every Pakistani into confidence about our point of view on the Panama Papers”, he said in reply to a question.

Syed Khursheed Shah said the opposition parties would announce their course of action on Monday, but all of them were determined to take the issue of the Panama Papers leaks to its logical conclusion. 

At Monday’s press conference, it would be clarified with documentary evidence that the opposition wanted across-the-board accountability, but of course it had to begin with the prime minister and his three children who owned offshore companies, he said.