Panama ‘drama’ engineered from abroad: Saad Rafique

PM Nawaz Sharif does not own any offshore company and it will be established in Supreme Court, says railways minister

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif does not own any offshore company and it will be established in the Supreme Court with evidence, Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique has claimed.

“The Panama issue is an engineered drama. It had been directed from abroad and performed by actors within the country,” he told reporters on Tuesday. “The joint investigation team (JIT) was a 'one way traffic'. It is biased and politically motivated and we shall contest it with all evidence and arguments in the Supreme Court."

Report submitted by the probe body to the Supreme Court on Monday found the Sharif family of living beyond means, concealment of facts and being beneficial owners of multiple offshore companies and recommended initiation of reference against the PM and members of the ruling family in the National Accountability Bureau.

The minister said the six-member inquiry panel was assigned to reveal the truth but it acted with partiality. “The JIT tried to make a mountain out of a molehill. Its report is a fairy-tale and this narrative will change when we will contest it in the apex court.”



Taking on political rivals, the minister said it was strange that Pakistan Peoples Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari talked of corruption, but his own tales of corruption were known to everyone. “At least the PPP should think many times before accusing others of corruption.”

Regarding Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan, the minister said he embodied every immorality but clamoured for morality. “You are accused of receiving foreign funds and abusing national institutions,” he said. “We are God fearing people. Our opponents are unnecessarily trumpeting the JIT’s findings. It is a fairy-tale. Please recall your past before blemishing us."