The combined opposition on Tuesday agreed to become part of the proposed parliamentary committee announced by the Prime Minister to formulate consensus terms of references (ToRs) for the proposed judicial commission to investigate Panama leaks scandal. It also ended boycott of National Assembly and Senate. However, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), one of the nine opposition parties, parted its ways with the combined opposition and did not attend a meeting called by the leader of the opposition in National Assembly Syed Khursheed Ahmad Shah, citing reservations.
Talking to Business Recorder, MQM's Senator Mian Mohammad Ateeq Sheikh said that MQM was no longer part of the combined opposition; but a final decision would be taken by party chief Altaf Hussain shortly. "We had joined the alliance of the opposition with a view to raising our issues more effectively but the opposition parties just ignored the issues faced by the party and our workers. We don't have any member named in the Panama leaks and now we will fight on our own," he added.
The rest of the opposition parties, however, decided to become part of the parliamentary committee after a meeting with Speaker National Assembly Ayaz Sadiq by leader of the opposition in National Assembly Syed Khursheed Ahmad Shah and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi, which was endorsed by the joint opposition later in a meeting.
The opposition leaders were invited by the Speaker to discuss the situation in the wake of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Monday address to the National Assembly to explain his position but the opposition parties rejected the explanation and boycotted both houses of the parliament. According to the sources, the Speaker discussed matters pertaining to formation of a parliamentary committee as announced by the Prime Minister to formulate consensus ToRs and also sought names of members from the opposition parties. They said the Speaker also called upon the opposition parties to end the boycott and come back to the parliament.
In a meeting of the joint opposition, the leader of the opposition took the opposition political parties into confidence on the discussion made with the Speaker and consequently a unanimous decision was taken to become part of the parliamentary committee and also to end the boycott of the two houses of the parliament. The opposition parties had earlier prepared a new 12-page questionnaire, consisting 70 questions to be asked from the Prime Minister on the issue of Panama leaks in the parliament. Talking to reporters, Khursheed Shah said that the opposition parties agreed unanimously to end the boycott of the National Assembly and Senate, adding the opposition members will raise the questions over the prime minister's address in the national assembly.
"Parliament is the appropriate forum to discuss all the issue and how can we ignore it," he said, adding it took a long time for the Prime Minister to show up at the National Assembly on Monday. He further said that they also conveyed to the Speaker that the government has not yet contacted the opposition parties pertaining to the parliamentary committee announced by the prime minister.
Leader of the opposition in Senate Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan said that the Prime Minister's speech in National Assembly has given birth to many other questions which will be asked in the House. "We will keep asking the questions from the Prime Minister in the Assembly. If he does not reply, then the opposition parties will think of another plan of action," he added. To a question about MQM's decision, Aitzaz said that the MQM can be expected to take different decisions at times.