All, starting from PM, must be held accountable: Opposition

 

Disagreement continues on seeking Nawaz’s resignation

Agrees on four points; says premier failed to fulfil his moral responsibilities; rejects govt ToRs; wants judicial commission to probe PanamaLeaks

ISLAMABAD: The joint opposition on Monday failed to reach a consensus on seeking Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif’s resignation; however, it unanimously rejected the government’s Terms of References (ToRs) for the inquiry commission to probe the PanamaLeaks.

The opposition called for the accountability of all those mentioned in the PanamaLeaks starting from the prime minister and his family.The opposition parties also could not reach a consensus on whether the prime minister should be asked to quit before the start of the probe. The meeting also failed to decide the time-frame for the start and completion of the probe against the prime minister and his family.

“The opposition parties feel that the prime minister has failed to fulfill his moral responsibilities after the PanamaLeaks,” PPP leader Qamar-uz-Zaman Kaira said while briefing newsmen on the outcome of the meeting here. He was flanked by Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan and Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad.

“Here the term of moral responsibility covers many things,” Kaira said when asked to comment on whether the opposition parties had asked the prime minister to resign.At the same time, the PPP leader, without giving a clear reply to a question about the resignation of the prime minister, asked newsmen to interpret the term of ‘moral responsibilities’.

He said a nine-member ToRs committee representing all the opposition parties had been formed and it would meet at the residence of Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan on Tuesday (today).“The opposition parties presented their proposed ToRs today and the same will be discussed in the nine-member ToRs committee meeting,” he said.

Responding to a question about the offshore wealth of Jahangir Khan Tareen and some PPP leaders, Kaira said all of them should face accountability.The nine-member committee comprising one member from each opposition party was also constituted.

The committee comprises Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan (PPP), Hamid Khan (PTI), Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed (PML-Q), Israrullah Zehri (BNP-Awami), Asadullah Bhutto (JI), Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed (AML), Mian Iftikhar (ANP) and Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui (MQM).

At the conclusion of the meeting, a four-point declaration was released to the media saying that the consultative meeting of the nine-member opposition committee had rejected the ToRs of the government in the present shape.

The opposition parties wanted accountability of all those mentioned in the PanamaLeaks but maintained that the process should start from the prime minister and his family.The meeting also declared that a judicial commission be constituted to probe the disclosures made by the Panama Papers.

“The opposition parties should also be consulted for any legislation in this regard,” the declaration said.The declaration said a joint committee had been constituted to draft the opposition’s TORs for the Judicial Commission. The committee would meet at the residence of Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan on Tuesday (today) at 11am.

According to sources, MQM, ANP and Qaumi Watan Party did not support the idea of seeking the resignation of the prime minister at this stage. These parties were of the view that a time-frame should be given to the prime minister to clear himself before declaring him guilty.

Meanwhile, the PPP demanded the inquiry commission that would probe the matter should not be constituted under the 1956 Act but it should be made through a presidential ordinance and must be given protection by parliament.Furthermore, it was stated that the investigation should start from the family of the prime minister and a time-frame must be set for the investigation.

Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Senator Sirajul Haq stressed that the inquiry into the PanamaLeaks should have two phases. In the first phase, accountability of the prime minister, his family and those named in the PanamaLeaks should be started and in the second phase, corruption since Independence should be probed and the plunderers taken to task.

Siraj said the issue was so serious that the prime minister had to address the nation thrice. He said the JI had already begun its campaign against corruption.However, he said that an inquiry into financial corruption was not enough and recommendations should also be made to end electoral and moral corruption, which had weakened the foundations of the country.

Siraj stressed that besides holding protest rallies and public meetings, the opposition should decide a common line of action and the meetings should be result-oriented. He said several inquiry commissions had been set up in the past but nothing concrete came out.

The joint consultative meeting of the nine opposition parties was attended by Opposition Leader Syed Khursheed Shah, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Jahangir Tareen, Dr Shireen Mazari, Dr Arif Alvi, Asad Umer, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Mushahid Hussain, Sirajul Haq, Sahibzada Tariqullah, Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Mian Atif, Kanwar Naveed Jameel, Israrullah Zehri, Mian Iftikhar Hussain and Haji Ghulam Bilour.