After the 12-member parliamentary committee on Panama papers failed to make any progress to formulate consensus Terms of References (ToRs), the combined opposition on Friday decided to give its future line of action on June 20. The meeting of the joint opposition that took place at the chamber of opposition leader in National Assembly Syed Khursheed Ahmad Shah also decided to make all the details public that led to a complete deadlock.
The joint opposition, which is not ready to give up on Panama leaks, will address a press conference on Monday at the residence of Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan, leader of the opposition in Senate, to clear the ambiguity that the government is not ready to proceed with the probe into the leaks. The opposition had been accusing the government for not co-operating which they thought was done intentionally to linger on the issue in order to save the children of the Prime Minister-a major demand of the opposition who want the investigation to start from the Prime Minister's family.
Talking to reporters after the meeting, Khurshid Shah has said that the joint opposition will share the details with the nation through a press conference and also announce future strategy. Aitzaz Ahsan said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif wants accountability of all while his aides want to protect him. He highlighted the contradiction in stances of the Prime Minister and his cabinet members, saying they are not ready for a meaningful accountability process.
"If the Prime Minister wants to present himself for the accountability then why the government is frightened?" he asked, adding no one in the country should be above the law. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi who also participated the meeting, said that his party was disappointed over the parliamentary committee that has been tasked to formulate consensus ToRs for probing into Panama leaks. He said that all the parties under the joint opposition have been taken into confidence on the complete deadlock in the parliamentary committee on the ToRs and a future course of action will also be announced with mutual consultations.