ISLAMABAD: Rejecting opposition’s stance over the Terms of Reference (ToRs) for proposed judicial commission to probe Panama Papers, federal ministers Khawaja Saad Rafique, Zahid Hamid and Anusha Rehman on Monday said the opposition had presented facts against ground realities.
Talking to newsmen here at the Parliament House, they said neither Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif owned any offshore company nor his name was reported in the Panama Papers.
Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique said the opposition misreported the facts regarding the government’s consultation with PPP leader Aitzaz Ahsan and PTI leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi for working out ToRs.
No judge, he said, was ready to be part of the commission for probing Panama Papers because of the propaganda by Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan and his party leaders.
He said other opposition members in the parliamentary committee on ToRs had tried to realize Aitzaz Ahsan that he was not doing justice but he remained adamant to his stance.
“We neither demand any relaxation in the matter of free accountability nor we need it,” he said, adding that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had already faced accountability when it was in opposition.
He said Aitzaz Ahsan had presented the ToRs in the shape of 15 questions in the committee and the work on them couldn’t be advanced.
Saad Rafique said the government wanted guidelines from the opposition regarding ToRs. But it should not be threatened of protests and sit-ins, he added.
