ToRs for inquiry body: Talks inch forward amid flexibility signs

Minister says govt ready to reconsider its working terms

ISLAMABAD: The government showed some flexibility on Saturday after it formally acknowledged the Supreme Court’s reservations over its proposed terms of reference (ToRs) for setting up an inquiry commission to probe the Panamagate scandal.

“In the light of the SC’s observations, the government is ready to reconsider its ToRs, in consultation with the joint opposition (team),” Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique announced at the conclusion of the fifth meeting of the 12-member Parliamentary Committee on the Panama Papers.



However, the government reiterated that unanimous working terms should not be person-specific and proposed laws should be made generic, providing for probes not only into the Panamagate scandal but also to loans written-off by banks, transfers of funds from Pakistan originating from corruption, commissions and kickbacks.

“We are ready to undertake the necessary legislation to pave the way for investigations after having unanimity on ToRs. But the law will not be (made) specific to (fit the) current scenario but also fulfilling future needs and equally applicable to all those who plundered public money and hid it abroad,” the minister added.



During Saturday’s meeting, the government team also circulated reformulated ToRs referring to a previous paper, which correlated with the joint opposition’s proposed ToRs, outlining relevant provisions of laws, including income tax, foreign exchange, wealth tax and election laws, said a statement issued by the National Assembly’s Secretariat.

The opposition will respond to the reformulated terms on Tuesday after holding a consultative meeting of the joint opposition in this regard, said PTI’s Shah Mehmood Qureshi. Qureshi also maintained that the government had withdrawn its previous ToRs. This claim was later rejected by the government.



Although Qureshi insisted the situation remained unchanged, opposition’s overall tone on Saturday was not as hostile as it was on previous occasions and both sides hoped they would reach consensus.

However, a member of the committee, requesting anonymity, told The Express Tribune that the “parliamentary body is yet to undertake its core business”. Whatever little advance was witnessed on Saturday was because of the intervention of National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq and Leader of the Opposition Khursheed Shah. Before the formal meeting started, both sides met in the chamber of the speaker in the presence of Khursheed Shah. The meeting, which lasted almost half an hour, was aimed at developing consensus and avoid ‘claims of deadlock’ at the end of the meeting.

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