PPP asks govt to pave way for formation of parliamentary committee

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Peoples Party asked the government on Wednesday to pave way for the formation of a parliamentary committee, instead of a judicial commission, to investigate the Panama leaks.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said investigation by any nominee of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would not be credible because he and his family had been named in the Panama Papers.

PPP’s spokesman Senator Farhatullah Babar said Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had called Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah.

Mr Shah informed Mr Bilawal that talks were held with the government side, including the finance minister, on the issue.

Meanwhile, presiding over a meeting at the Zardari House of the PPP’s parliamentary committee set up last week to hold consultations with all political parties on the issue of setting up a parliamentary commission on the Panama leaks, Mr Bilawal said: “A probe by a nominee of the prime minister and decision about the terms of reference of the probe forum will not be credible because the prime minister’s family has been named in the report.”

The committee members – Khursheed Shah, Aitzaz Ahsan, Syed Naveed Qamar, Saeed Ghani and Ijaz Jakhrani – briefed the PPP chairman on the progress in the consultative process.

According to the PPP spokesman, Mr Bilawal stressed the need for carrying out investigation through a parliamentary forum with the consent of all political parties.

“The terms of reference for the probe should also be determined by parliament after discussion and debate by all parties,” the PPP chairman said.

On Tuesday, the PPP’s parliamentary committee met leaders of some parties who agreed that if Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali refused to head the judicial commission, a parliamentary committee should be formed to investigate the Panama leaks.

Briefing the PPP chairman, Khursheed Shah said discussions were held with leaders of the Awami National Party, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Jamaat-i-Islami and the Qaumi Watan Party of Aftab Sherpao.

Zulqernain Tahir in Lahore adds: Bilawal Bhutto has expressed dissatisfaction over the accountability process, saying ‘holy cow syndrome’ is undermining the rule of law and legitimacy of institutions in the country.

“Musharraf’s release has made accountability a joke in Pakistan. Holy cow syndrome undermines rule of law and legitimacy of institutions,” the PPP chairman tweeted on Wednesday.

The comment came a day after Army Chief General Raheel Sharif called for “across-the-board accountability” in the country. “The ongoing war against terrorism and extremism... cannot bring enduring peace and stability unless the menace of corruption is uprooted,” the army chief said.

Interpreting Mr Bilawal’s remarks, PPP Secretary General Latif Khosa said he (Bilawal) had used the word “holy cow” for the Sharif family, and not for the army.

“It is the PML-N government which let Gen Pervez Musharraf off the hook and now it is not ready for fair investigation into the Panama leaks which pinpointed the names of the children of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for running offshore companies,” he said.

Mr Khosa welcomed the army chief’s statement but said that carrying out across-the-board accountability was a responsibility of state institutions which appeared to be unable to proceed against the “corruption of the Sharif family”.

Talking to Dawn, the former Punjab governor said that since the Panama Papers scandal had surfaced, no state institution was rea­dy to investigate the allegations against the prime minister and his family. “The PML-N government cannot fool people by constituting a judicial commission of its choice to investigate the Panama leaks,” he said.

Meanwhile, a four-member committee of legal experts, formed by Bilawal Bhutto to advise him on legal issues and course of action to be followed in investigation into the Panama leaks, held its first meeting on Wednesday.

The committee members — Senator Aitzaz Ahsan, Senator Farooq Naek, Sardar Latif Khosa and former Senate chairman Nayyer Bokhari — discussed various legal aspects of the case.

Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2016