Opposition groups losing zeal for Panama leaks debate

ISLAMABAD: Parliament, it seems, is no longer the preferred platform of opposition parties to grill the government over the Panama leaks, which was once a hot button issue in the country.

The apparent safe passage to the government is evident from the visible cracks in the joint opposition and the recently-concluded session of the Senate.



The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, in May, released the names of 259 Pakistanis, including the children of PM Nawaz Sharif, with stakes in offshore companies based in Panama. The disclosure dubbed Panama leaks included names of many leading figures of the world.

The issue gave the opposition an opportunity to drag the government, especially the PM, to accountability courts for allegedly stashing money in offshore tax havens and demanded scrutiny of the money trail.

Over the months, the issue fizzled out even after the formation of a parliamentary committee set up to work on the terms of reference (TORs) of the investigation.

Last week, Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Liaquat Baloch stated at a public gathering that the “government and opposition’s connivance buried the Panama leaks inquiry”.



Silence in Senate

The dwindling interest of the opposition was perhaps best illustrated at the Senate’s 250th session when not a single opposition member bothered to raise the matter before the session was prorogued on Friday.



When asked about the issue being phased out, PPP Senator Saeed Ghani said they were busy in the Cybercrime Bill and honour killing issues that was why they could not get to discuss the Panama leaks matter in the Senate. “We are soon bringing a private member’s bill based on the opposition’s terms of reference for probing the Panama leaks,” he added.

Senator Tahir Mashhadi from Muttahida Qaumi Movement was unhappy with the way the opposition has handled the whole scandal. “Actually nobody wants to punish the other because they are all the same and whatever is being done is for public consumption,” he said.

National Assembly

The 34th session of National Assembly starts today, with no mention of discussion about the Panama leaks on the agenda.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Asad Umar said that though his party wanted to resolve the issue in parliament, but after over four months, the party decided to take to streets because there was no other way to bring the PML-N leadership to accountability.

He said when they announced a protest campaign from August 7, the government, all of a sudden, called a meeting of the parliamentary committee on the terms of reference (TORs) on August 6.



PTI’s future strategy would depend on what is decided in that committee, a day ahead of their protest campaign “but the government listens when people take to the streets.”

Besides, according to sources, the PM is unlikely to attend the NA session. He last came to the house on May 16 to clarify his and family’s position regarding the Panama leaks.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 1^st, 2016.