Panamagate inquiry: Opposition to reveal ‘real facts’ on failure of talks

Opposition will present before the nation a brief of negotiations with documentary evidence

ISLAMABAD: The joint opposition will present before the nation today (Monday) the ‘real facts’ behind the collapse of talks between the government and opposition on the mode of inquiry for the Panamagate scandal.

“A brief of talks so far held between the government and the opposition with documentary evidence will be presented [before the nation], so that people can come to know the real facts and the government’s efforts to save the prime minister and his family from accountability,” said a member of the parliamentary committee on Panama Papers. The opposition will also reveal its future course of action.



Eight rounds of talks between the two sides could only evolve a consensus on a four-point preamble to the terms of reference (ToRs) for the Panama Papers commission of inquiry. With the government and the opposition sticking to their guns, hopes for a breakthrough are slim.



So far, the opposition has submitted two documents — a draft of 15 ToRs and another copy of the same ToRs but in rearticulated form — to the government, while the government, in addition to submitting two different drafts of ToRs, also proposed a bill, ‘Commission of Inquiry Act-2016’.

The Commission of Inquiry Act-2016 is a slightly modified form of the Pakistan Commissions of Inquiry Act-1956. The Supreme Court has already rejected undertaking an enquiry under the 1956 Act. Under the given situation, PTI’s Shah Mehmood Qureshi has already dubbed the committee a ‘useless forum’ and advised Imran Khan to boycott it.

According to a source, the PTI has contacted the Supreme Court Bar Association to formally chalk out a future strategy in case a political settlement does not come through.



“In the face of disagreement over the ToRs, it is fast becoming an issue of fundamental rights. We [SCBA] do not play the role of a silent spectator anymore,” said SCBA President Ali Zafar. He said both the opposition and the government were informally in contact, and both sides have shown their full agreement over the five ToRs suggested by the SCBA earlier.

“The lawyers’ fraternity will not remain silent over this issue of infringement of the fundamental rights,” Zafar said.He said a petition could be filed with the Supreme Court, pleading it to direct the government to legislate over the issue of accountability. However, he said one hopes that things would be settled through the platform of the parliamentary committee.

“It is not an issue of punishing someone, but to ensure free and fair investigations and accountability at every level,” Zafar said, adding that it would be a great loss to everybody if this opportunity to hold accountable those who have plundered the public money was missed.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 20^th, 2016.