Panama leaks: Govt ready to enact new laws, says AGP

Ashtar Ausaf meets SCBA president to resolve differences.

ISLAMABAD: The top state prosecutor has said the government is willing to formulate new laws in larger public interest amid the controversy surrounding the offshore holdings of influential Pakistanis.

The statement from Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Ashtar Ausaf came on Thursday after his meeting with Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president Ali Zafar.

Talking to reporters later, the recently appointed prosecutor said there were no major differences between the terms of reference (ToRs) proposed by the government and the SCBA.

The AGP also urged all political parties to shun differences and focus on the country’s development, adding the government was ready to legislate on eradicating corruption.



The SCBA president believed AGP Ashtar could play a pivotal role in resolving differences among the parties on the Panama leaks issue.

The lawyers’ body has been vociferously protesting against the government since the Panama Papers named the children of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for owning offshore assets in international tax havens.

The bar association has already rejected the terms of reference (ToRs) of the inquiry commission announced by the government to probe the offshore accounts of Pakistanis under the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1956.

A day earlier, Zafar had met some lawmakers of the Pakistan Peoples Party and agreed to call for a powerful inquiry commission under a special law or ordinance.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 29^th,  2016.