Panama Papers: Fazl mounts robust defence of premier

JUI-F Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman questions ToRs proposed by opposition parties, rejects them

ISLAMABAD: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam – Fazl (JUI-F) has questioned the authority of the political opposition to draw up their own terms of reference (ToRs) for the Panama Papers probe while rejecting their proposed terms.

A coalition partner of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman rejected the ToRs proposed by the opposition parties and backed the government over the Panama Leaks issue.



“How can opposition parties draft the ToRs if the prime minister does have that authority,” Fazl told reporters outside the parliament house on Wednesday.



He criticised the ToRs presented by the opposition, claiming that they were ambiguous.

The political opposition had rejected the government-proposed ToRs for a commission and had instead drafted their own set of terms under which the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) will head the inquiry panel and that it would be established through an act of parliament with investigations starting from the prime minister.

Fazl argued that everyone who was named in the documents ought to be probed and that no one individual should be targeted while referring to PM Nawaz Sharif whose resignation the two main opposition parties, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), have been demanding.



He asked why was PTI demanding Nawaz’s resignation despite the fact that some of its leaders own offshore companies themselves.

“They [PTI leaders] should resign instead of demanding a resignation from the prime minister.”

The JUI-F chief also reserved some criticism for the PPP and termed their alliance with the PTI over the Panama Papers survival tactics for the party in Punjab

“Since PTI Chairman Imran Khan started campaigning against the government over Panama Leaks, the PPP is siding the latter,” he concluded.

The JUI-F chief deplored the double standards of PTI leaders who were allegedly involved in corruption in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa but were demanding the prime minister’s resignation over the Panama Leaks.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 5^th, 2016.