ISLAMABAD: The parliamentary committee of government and opposition members tasked with framing terms of reference (TOR) for a judicial probe into the Panama Leaks failed again to make any headway on Saturday.
PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi said deadlock still persists as government’s team is not showing any flexibility on the issue. “The situation remains the same,” he said.
He said that National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq and opposition leader Syed Khursheed Shah met him and expressed concern about the deadlock in talks.
The PPP leader Aitzaz Ahsan, however, said that some progress was made in the fifth round of talks between the two sides.
“The government has handed over some TORs to the opposition for consultation,” he said.
Government’s stance regarding joint ToRs on Panama leaks:
On the other hand, Federal Railway Minister Khawaja Saad Ahmed denied there was any deadlock between government and opposition on Panama’s TORs, saying that efforts were being made to develop a consensus.
“It has been our stance from day one that the TOR must not be any person-specific,” Rafique told the media persons outside the Parliament House.
“We have handed over new TORs to opposition for deliberation,” he said.
The railway minister said that government’s members were not mentally prepared for the fifth round of talks due to the recent surgery of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in London.
To a question, he said that it was part of Pakistani political culture that opposition parties would always take a harder stance on every issue.
A statement issued by the government later said that opposition members asked for time for deliberation and consultation with the leadership about the new TORs.
The committee will now meet on Tuesday afternoon at 4:00pm.
