Islamabad
The government and opposition parties separately presented in people’s court their respective cases on the deliberations held within the parliamentary committee on the Terms of Reference (ToRs) but shied away from resuming the dialogue process that has fallen victim to pointless egotism and stubbornness.
What the two sides unveiled at their pressers was part of their campaigns for public consumption. Instead of reviving the negotiations within the ambit of the parliamentary panel, they are more interested in blaming each other for not being honest and sincere to genuine investigations into questionable dealings to impress their votes or attract more constituents.
Both parties did not divulge anything new, stunning and repeated their old versions. On the face of it, they were not pushed to begin the parleys any soon. They are very keen for political point scoring.
The sticking point remained the same. The opposition asserted like before that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s name must be included in the ToRs despite the fact that it did not figure in the Panama Papers disclosures.
Only Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Aitzaz Ahsan knows and can explain the reasoning and logic behind his insistence on incorporating the premier’s name in the ToRs when it did not even figure in the Panama leaks.
However, when he was once asked to also include the name of Asif Ali Zardari in the terms, he refused to do so saying that it did not crop up in the offshore companies identified by the Panama papers although such a firm of Benazir Bhutto and Rehman Malik surfaced in these leaks.
As usual, the PPP and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) representatives Aitzaz Ahsan and Shah Mehmood Qureshi expressed the opposition team’s readiness to restart talks with a lot of ifs and buts that were obviously unacceptable to the government. Therefore, the dialogue process is unlikely to begin again any soon unless saner elements come in to break the logjam.
However, they ignored the very motion, unanimously passed by the National Assembly and Senate last month, which is going to serve as the basis for the work of the parliamentary committee.
According to the resolution, the committee will consider options for inquiring into issues raised by the Panama Papers including offshore companies; transfer from Pakistan of funds originating from corruption, commission or kickbacks; and written off bank loans. It will determine the priority level of each of them. The formulation of ToRs and a timeline for submission will be decided by the committee, which must submit a report to Parliament within two weeks.
Nowhere did the motion prescribe that any specific person, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the instant case, has to be included in the ToRs. However, Aitzaz Ahsan keeps insisting that the premier’s name must be incorporated in the terms otherwise there will be no meaningful and credible investigation. The talks have been derailed because of disagreement on this single point, and continue to be rocked by the same bone of contention.
Unless the opposition changes its mind and gives up insistence on a frivolous issue, there is no likelihood and hope for any resumption of talks and subsequent breakthrough. The government is not going to concede this demand when the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has already clarified that the prime minister’s name was inadvertently mentioned in its story.
Apparently PTI Chairman Imran Khan is least interested in the dialogue on the ToRs as he has repeatedly announced to launch his protest after the Eidul Fitr. He considers that this trajectory will add more to his public standing, and the judicial commission, if formed, may not produce the same results. However, his senior deputy Chaudhry Sarwar has stated that no discussion within the party has so far been held on staging a sit-in. He was also opposed to disruption, which will hurt the overall political environment.