ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday expressed profound satisfaction over the fact that the Panamagate issue would now be settled by the Supreme Court of Pakistan, causing embarrassment for his opponents.

At the outset of the federal cabinet meeting, the prime minister thanked the nation for “rejecting un-parliamentary forces and the politics of agitation”.

He said he had requested the apex court to constitute a commission on the matter and even framed a law and constituted a parliamentary committee to resolve the issue, but all these efforts were frustrated by the opposition, which wanted to exploit the issue.

“The matter has now come to the Supreme Court, where a decision would be made in accordance with the law and Constitution,” he was quoted by his staff as saying.

The prime minister said his stance had been very clear from day one and the court would now decide the case on its merits.

In an apparent reference to the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), the prime minister said those holding ‘thanksgiving’ celebrations should have first thanked Almighty Allah. The prime minister told his cabinet colleagues that he had directed his legal team not to debate or question the maintainability of the petition, even if there were some suspicions or issues with the maintainability, so that it could be admitted unhindered.

Cabinet ratifies OECD convention; approves new draft of companies law

“Those hurling accusations will be embarrassed again, just as they were embarrassed following the decision of the judicial commission in 2015,” he said, referring to the allegations of election rigging but deplored that they never expressed regrets over causing huge economic losses to the nation for 126 days.

The prime minister touted his party’s continuous successes in elections in cantonment boards, local bodies, Gilgit-Baltistan and AJK as a testament to the people’s trust in the elected government.

On Wednesday, the cabinet ratified Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters with the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which would come into force next year and facilitate the exchange of information regarding tax fraud among member states.

The cabinet also approved a draft of the Companies Bill 2016 for introduction in parliament to replace the existing Companies Ordinance of 1984. This move is aimed at addressing general concerns regarding offshore companies.

In order to address the challenges posed by offshore companies, an enhanced disclosure regime for officers and members of those companies has been provided under the draft bill, while stringent penalties have been introduced in cases of false declaration or non-disclosure.

The bill seeks to use technology at all levels, including the electronic filing of documents to the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), electronic dissemination of documents to members, voting through e-ballots, participation in meetings through video link and conversion of physical shares into book-entries.

The prime minister said this was the first time in the history of Pakistan that a macroeconomic economic reforms programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had been “successfully completed and now IMF programmes in Pakistan have come to an end”. He said that the IMF managing director and Asian Development Bank chief had appreciated the country’s economic development over the past three years.

The prime minister and the cabinet lauded the interior minister’s efforts for handling the onslaught on the capital and foiling the PTI’s bid to lock down Islamabad. Appreciating Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and his team, the prime minister said that they excellently handled a difficult assignment, establishing the rule of law and enforcing the writ of the state and its institutions in order to maintain peace and protect the lives and property of the citizens.

The prime minister directed Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to brief the cabinet on electoral reform proposals in their next meeting. He also instructed him to prepare comprehensive recommendations for electoral reforms in consultation with all parliamentary parties in order to take the necessary constitutional steps to improve the electoral system in the country.

The cabinet also approved a relief package for those who lost their loved ones or suffered financial losses as result of unprovoked Indian firing across the Line of Control (LoC) and prayed for the souls of those who laid down their lives in the attack on a Police Training College in Quetta, as well as the victims of the Gadani ship blaze.

The meeting lauded the finance minister’s economic team for the improvement in the country’s sovereign credit rating by Standard and Poor’s.

The cabinet also discussed threadbare the national policy on repatriation and management of Afghan refugees and decided to seek further input from all stakeholders to reach a broad-based consensus.

The cabinet confirmed the earlier approvals of the cabinet committee on disposal of legislative cases (CCLC) on Right of Access to Information Bill 2016, Teaching of the Holy Quran in Private and Public Schools Bill 2016, Alternate Dispute Resolution Bill 2016, Pakistan Climate Change Act 2016, The Corporate Rehabilitation Bill 2016, and Cost of Litigation Bill 2016.

The cabinet also endorsed the decisions taken by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) in its meeting held on Oct 31.

Published in Dawn November 3rd, 2016