ISLAMABAD: Parliamentary leaders from all opposition parties will meet on Wednesday in a bid to agree on potential names for appointment as members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

The opposition will also discuss the issue of the Panama Papers inquiry commission and devise a common response — in case they receive a fresh invitation from the government to participate in the meetings of the parliamentary committee, formed by the National Assembly speaker to prepare terms of reference (ToR) for the proposed judicial commission.

This was stated by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi after his meeting with parliamentary opposition leaders, Syed Khurshid Shah and Aitzaz Ahsan, on Monday.

Later, talking to reporters in his Parliament House chamber, Mr Shah sought Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s intervention to resolve the political crisis created due to a deadlock in the parliamentary committee on Panama Papers.

Answering a question about the possibility of launching an anti-government movement — as announced by the PPP and the PTI leadership before Eid — Mr Qureshi said that any such decision would be made after consultations with other opposition parties.

The PTI leader said that they might convene a grand meeting of all opposition parties to finalise the plan for a protest movement against the government, while remaining within the parameters of democratic norms.

PPP’s Aitzaz Ahsan said the opposition had been “disappointed” with the government’s response to the suggested ToR for the judicial commission. He said it seemed that after presenting himself and his family for accountability, the prime minister was now asking his ministers to save him.

Mr Ahsan said if the prime minister had done nothing wrong, he should have no objection to the ToR prepared by opposition parties.

Responding to a question, both Mr Qureshi and Mr Ahsan said that they had not received any invitation from the government to restart negotiations thus far.

Both leaders refused to divulge the names they had discussed for appointment as ECP members, saying that it would be inappropriate for them to make these names public at this stage and without consulting other opposition parties.

Mr Qureshi, however, said the opposition would propose the names of persons of good repute who would ensure the holding of free, transparent and fair elections in the country.

Later, Mr Shah said the opposition wanted to provide an opportunity to the prime minister to clear his name in the Panama Papers controversy, but he was now running away from accountability.

“We want to see Nawaz Sharif’s name cleared from the Panama Papers issue. It will be in the interest of the prime minister himself,” he said.

In response to a question about reports that the government was considering presenting the report of the parliamentary committee on Panama Papers before the National Assembly with the support of other opposition parties, including the MQM and the ANP, Mr Shah said that such an act would not be “beneficial” for the government.

“Presenting the report after creating division among opposition parties will not go in favour of the government,” he said, expressing the hope that the ANP and the MQM would not become a tool in the hands of the government.

Mr Shah in reply to a question said he had not talked to the prime minister after his return from the UK after successful heart surgery.

During their telephonic conversation on July 4, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Khurshid Shah had agreed to “formally exchange” the proposed names for appointment of the four members of the ECP soon after Eid.

Mr Dar had stated that they had so far not formally exchanged names for appointment as the ECP members, though they had discussed a few names during their “informal discussion”.

Published in Dawn, July 12th, 2016