Pesa wants two commissions to probe Panama Papers

RAWALPINDI: The Pakistan ex-servicemen Association (Pesa has expressed disappointment over Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's recent speech to the Nation.

The PM's address delivered on April 22 was not of a statesman like in which he apparently complicated the case that actually required a simple explanation from him, it said. This was observed in a meeting chaired by Pesa President Ali Kuli Khan.

Vice Admiral Ahmad Tasnim, Air Marshal Masood Akhtar, Lt Gen Naeem Akbar, Brig Mian Mahmud, Brig Masudul Hassan and Brig Simon Sharaf were also present. The Panama Paper did not contain any direct reference to the name of PM, but the issue exploded only after one of his sons accepted ownership of the assets disclosed by the Leaks, it said.

Basically, it was PM’s responsibility to give detailsabout the source of those assets and the method that was adopted to transfer those funds to the tax haven of offshore companies, it added. Furthermore, the former military leaders said, being a matter of personal nature, there was no need to involve state agencies and the Cabinet.

We have the example of British prime minister, who handled the case all by himself and gave out all details about the funds. The prime minister of Iceland could not satisfy the public hence resigned without any hesitation.

Under pressure from opposition parties, the government has asked the chief justice of Pakistan to set up an inquiry commission; however, its terms of reference have been so framed that its proceedings could be prolonged for an indefinite period, it noted.

Members of Pesa agree with the need to investigate into all the causes that have prevented us to achieve Pakistan of our dreams, but the most urgent issue revolves around integrity of our head of the government.

All  Pesa members, therefore, request the chief justice of Pakistan to use his powers of ‘Suo Moto’ action and divide the TORs in to two parts and set up two separate commissions to bridge the gap between the government and opposition over the issue. First commission, directly led by him, should cover Panama Leaks to give PM an opportunity to come clean in the shortest possible time.

Otherwise, this issue might not affect his vote bank but would certainly leave an indelible black spot on Pakistan’s prestige. The second commission may go into all the other matters, starting from the day our top judiciary introduced ‘Doctrine of Necessity’ in 1954.