Another U-Turn? PTI ends boycott of parliament

Party to submit two motions against PM: Imran

ISLAMABAD: In what appears to be another U-turn, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf announced on Tuesday that its lawmakers will return to parliament today (Wednesday) only to move a couple of motions against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for “blatantly lying to the nation”.

On October 4, PTI Chairman Imran Khan had announced a boycott of parliament’s joint session, saying that attending the session would be like endorsing Premier Sharif who, he claimed, had lost legitimacy in the wake of the Panama Papers controversy.



The Panama Papers revealed in April that Premier Sharif’s three children had stashed money in offshore companies. The issue was being adjudicated by a five-judge larger bench of the Supreme Court until December 9. But now the case will be heard afresh in January by a new bench to be formed by the incoming chief justice.

On Tuesday, however, Imran told the media that PTI’s parliamentary party will go to parliament today to submit two motions with regard to Sharif’s ‘conflicting statements’ regarding the wealth of his family members in the backdrop of Panama leaks.

“PM Nawaz has lied to the whole nation from the floor of parliament. We would not let it go.”

He said the PTI would move a privilege and an adjournment motion against the Sharif’s statement, which “contradicts his stance adopted before the Supreme Court in the Panamagate case”.

Questions have been raised over the PTI’s change of heart regarding parliament given that Imran has publicly ridiculed the house a number of times in the recent past while questioning its credibility and calling it a ‘rubber stamp’.

Moreover, the PTI’s decision to move parliament appears to have lost significance in the wake of submission on Tuesday of a related privilege motion against Sharif by the PPP.

Imran, however, avoided commenting on his previous views regarding parliament, which he announced his party would continue to boycott on November 17 when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addressed parliament’s joint session during his visit to Pakistan.



Taking jibes at Sharif’s counsel in the Panamagate case, Imran said, “The PM’s lawyer said the money ‘may have come from somewhere’ and he doesn’t know where all those properties came from. God has been so kind to them that they don’t even know and the money keeps coming. What a luck!”



“Now we will see those who said Imran is endangering democracy. We would see where they stand now,” he said.

Imran reiterated that Premier Sharif had been ‘caught red-handed’ in the Panamagate case. “Now it’s up to parliament to maintain its dignity and take the corrupt premier to task,” he said.

Reacting to the PTI decision, PML-N MNA Talal Chaudhry told the media that taking U-turns was not new for Imran Khan and the PTI.  “However, it is good to know that they are back to parliament, finally, after creating all that fuss for nothing,” he added.

PTI to move ‘public court’

The PTI has decided to present all Panama scandal-related evidence in the ‘public court’ and to launch a nationwide public coordination campaign to create awareness about ‘the real position’ in the case.

“The PTI has already convened its Parliamentary Party and Core Committee meetings for final consultation after which the party will launch a nationwide public coordination campaign in which people will be informed about the real position on the Panama case,” PTI spokesperson Fawad Hussain Chaudhry  said while addressing a news conference in Lahore on Tuesday.

“Early elections are expected in 2017 and the party has decided to aware the masses about corruption of the ruling party,” he said, adding that the apex court should announce its verdict on the Panamagate case instead constituting a judicial commission.

Chaudhry said that hearing of the Panamagate case had completed and all statements except that of Sharif’s children were recorded. “It took almost seven months to reach here. Now, it would be better if the apex court announced its decision instead of constituting a commission,” he added.

He said it was the prerogative of the chief justice to constitute a judicial commission but his party believed the timing of the case was very crucial. “If the commission is given more time to restart hearing, then the ruling party will go for the next general elections after completing its term,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 14^th, 2016.