ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Mohammad Nawaz Sharif has welcomed decision by the Supreme Court over the Panama Papers on Thursday adding that he had faith in the constitution.
“I believe in the constitution, supremacy of the law and transparency,” he said.
The decision from the Prime Minister came against the expectations of the PTI and Awami League and according to observers now they would have no justification to lay a siege of Islamabad till the verdict of the supreme court.
The issue of the Panama Papers was brought to the notice of the Election Commission, Lahore High Court, and the Supreme Court.
The statement from the Prime Minister House came after a high level meeting presided by the Prime Minister was held to discuss the Supreme Court decision of sending a notice to prime minister in relation to the Panama Leaks.
During the meeting the attorney general briefed the prime minister over the legal proceedings regarding the case.
Nawaz Sharif said people’s court is giving its verdict in by-elections and it will be better to wait for Supreme Court’s decision as well.
He said he had announced to form a commission comprising retired judges of the Supreme Court soon after the Panama issue came into fore so that facts could be revealed to the people.
He said on opposition’s demand, a letter was also written to the chief justice of the apex court to form a judical commission to probe the matter.
The Prime Minister said that the government also formed a parliamentary committee to prepare consensus Terms of Reference (ToRs), in the light of Supreme Court’s directions.
He said despite having numerical superiority in the parliament, equal representation was given to the opposition in the ToRs committee. He said it is unfortunate that no consensus was reached, despite sincere efforts from the government side.
Nawaz Sharif said that the government also tabled a bill in the parliament to make the proposed Judicial commission more effective and powerful, but the opposition tabled a parallel bill against the constitutional and legal requirements
The Prime Minister said he had presented his stance on the issue with great detail in the National Assembly, but the opposition kept busy in negative propaganda hindering transparent and impartial investigations.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Defence Minister and Khawaja Asif were present in the meeting.
The Supreme Court issued notices to all parties including the Prime Minister on Thursday as it began hearing five petitions regarding the Panama Papers which have overshadowed political landscape of the country for the last several months.
A three-member bench presided by the Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali heard the petitions including two petitions filed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf calling for the disqualification of the prime minister.
