Panamagate scandal: PPP, PTI to press on with its leaks probe

PTI seeks unobstructed passage of opposition bill

ISLAMABAD: In a parallel to the proceedings pending in the Supreme Court, two major opposition parties — PTI and PPP — decided on Saturday to continue to press the government over the adoption of the joint opposition’s bill on the Panama Papers.

The bill is currently pending in the Senate.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) insisted that irrespective of its ongoing boycott of parliament, the party not only owned the bill, but also urged the government not to obstruct its adoption.

A crucial meeting of the Senate’s Standing Committee on Law and Justice will take up the bill on Tuesday (November 8).

The bill, titled ‘The Panama Papers Inquiries Bill 2016’, was referred to the panel on September 27.

The bill seeks to form a judicial commission to probe the Panamagate scandal. It calls for initiating investigations starting from the prime minister and his children and more than 450 people named in the Panama Papers – a demand opposed by the government, which dubbed the bill as being ‘person-centric’.

“Although PTI has announced to boycott the proceedings of parliament, but we still own the bill,” PTI’s vice-chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi said, adding the terms of reference (ToRs) submitted by the PTI in the SC were devised by taking guidance from the bill.

“We will ask the government not to obstruct its passage, if it really intends to ensure fair investigations into the issue,” Qureshi said. He, however, predicted that the government would not support the bill.

PPP Senator Saeed Ghani, who is also a member of the Senate Committee, said that legislation was the exclusive mandate of parliament.

“Ongoing SC proceedings into the Panamagate issue would not impact parliament’s pending legislation process,” Ghani said, adding that most petitions in the Supreme Court only demanded accountability of the prime minister, but the bill would ensure across-the-board accountability of all those named in the Panama Papers.

Ghani expressed the hope that the joint opposition would get the bill passed by the committee concerned on Tuesday.

The government opposed the bill’s introduction in the Senate, forcing the Senate chairman to opt for voting.

The opposition dominated as the Senate voted in favour and the bill was subsequently referred to the Law and Justice Committee.

In the bill, the opposition sought to initiate a legal process for inquiries into transnational and trans-jurisdictional secret transfers and deposits of funds abroad.

The bill suggested the federal government file a reference to the Chief Justice of Pakistan to nominate a three-judge commission with the senior-most judge of the apex court being its chairman or if the CJP himself is a member, he should head the commission.

The commission will have the powers to constitute a national or international joint investigation team or teams and seek cooperation from foreign countries in accordance with the UN Convention against Corruption and other related conventions and laws.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 6^th, 2016.