TAXILA: National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser on Saturday said the government would take all opposition parties on board for legislation related to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) before convening a joint session of parliament to pass the bills.

Talking to mediapersons in Wah, Mr Qaiser said political parties would be taken into confidence on the proposed FATF bills that were crucial for getting the country out of the grey list.

Pakistan was placed on the FATF’s grey list in June 2018 and had to meet its 27-point action plan to avoid getting blacklisted as a non-compliant nation.

The speaker said before calling the session, consultations would be held with leaders of various political parties in the parliament and hoped they would act responsibly.

He said there should be no politics and point scoring on issues of national security and integrity, adding that the proposed amendments would reflect on the government’s firm resolve to strengthen its anti-money laundering regime.

Responding to a question about the ongoing Afghan peace process, he said from the very first day, Pakistan had maintained a principle stand which was “let the Afghans decide about their fate”.

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2020