ISLAMABAD: Getting tough on the Panama Papers issue, the joint opposition on Wednesday declared that it would not attend further meetings of the parliamentary committee unless the government showed flexibility on their draft of the terms of reference (ToR) for the proposed inquiry commission.

Talking to reporters after meeting National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, opposition leaders said they had shown as much flexibility as possible by accepting more than 75pc of the government-proposed ToR. They insisted that there was no use of attending further meetings if the government was not ready to accept their demands.

Also on Wednesday, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) announced that it had decided to distance itself from the opposition alliance on ToR for the proposed Panama Papers commission and asked its representatives to leave the alliance.

The party has taken the decision in protest against both the government and opposition parties for their silence over the alleged victimisation of the MQM during the ongoing Rangers-led operation in Karachi.

Before meeting the speaker, the opposition leaders held a meeting in the chambers of Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Aitzaz Ahsan to consider the government’s fresh offer to attend a meeting of the parliamentary committee.

MQM distances itself from Panama committee; Aitzaz says opposition parties will soon demonstrate ‘unity of action’

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had approached Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Syed Khurshid Shah on Tuesday, asking him to agree on a date for the meeting of the committee that had been formed by the speaker in May to prepare ToR for the proposed inquiry commission.

Sources said that it was during that meeting that opposition leaders received the speaker’s request, after which they addressed a press conference to announce their decision.

Aitzaz Ahsan later told reporters that they had gone to meet the speaker at his request.

He said the opposition would have no objection to the speaker playing the role of a “facilitator”, but clarified that they had not sought any mediation from the speaker.

Flanked by other opposition leaders, Mr Ahsan said they had categorically told the speaker that they would attend the meetings of the parliamentary committee only if he guaranteed that the government would show “flexibility” in its stance.

The speaker, he said, had assured them that he would talk to the government and convey their reservations.

Mr Ahsan said the opposition had once again endorsed the decision taken on July 19 at a meeting hosted by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) that they would not hold further negotiations with the government which was not ready to show any flexibility.

He said it seemed that the basic purpose of the government members in the committee was to save the prime minister and his family from facing accountability. He said the opposition wanted indiscriminate accountability for all those whose names had appeared in the Panama Papers.

In reply to a question about the PTI’s decision to launch an accountability movement against the government on its own, Mr Ahsan expressed the hope that soon there would be complete unity among the opposition’s ranks.

PTI’s Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the government’s efforts to divide the opposition had failed. Some circles were giving an impression that the opposition was divided following the PTI’s decision to launch the anti-government protest.

Instead, he said, all opposition parties had acknowledged that the PTI had the constitutional and democratic right to launch a protest, adding that the opposition alliance was growing stronger with time.

When asked about the possibility of the PPP joining hands with the PTI in its protest, Mr Ahsan said that he believed they would be together and there would be “unity of action” over the next few weeks.

Answering another question, Mr Ahsan denied an impression that the opposition had covertly joined hands with the government and was helping it gain more time over the issue.

MQM decision

According to a press statement, the MQM took the decision to leave the ToR committee during an emergency meeting presided over by its senior deputy convener Amir Khan at the party’s headquarters in Karachi.

The meeting had been convened to discuss various ongoing issues, “especially illegal raids and arrests of party workers and the government and opposition’s reactions over violations of rights of the Urdu-speaking community”.

The party had decided to distance itself from the opposition alliance on ToR and asked its representatives to leave the alliance against the government, the statement said.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2016