ISLAMABAD: Minister for Commerce Khurram Dastgir Khan said on Wednesday that the government was all cooperative with the opposition to resolve the Panama Papers issue but the opposition parties filed references in the election commission instead of agreeing on the Terms of Reference (ToRs).
“Panama Papers are not incriminating evidence. We cannot forejudge anybody as corrupt on basis of certain revelations till the matter is investigated. Now, as the matter is with the election commission, let us wait for its decision,” he said in a private TV channel program.
He said that the government side in the ToRs committee tried to facilitate the opposition parties but they were stuck to an unjustified demand to target Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. “Therefore, we argued that let us do crime hunting instead of target hunting.”
Answering a question, he said that the government would welcome any bill by the opposition in the parliament on the Panama Papers. “The government side had shown flexibility soon after the prime minister advised the committee members to resolve the ToRs issue.”
He said that the government is in contact with the opposition on the nomination of election commission of Pakistan (ECP) members. He added that Federal Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar had held number of meetings with the opposition leader Syed Khursheed Shah.
He said that protest was the right of the opposition but it should not result in interference of the non-democratic forces. “Let their agitation not affect the routine life of masses. Let it be peaceful.” Earlier, he said that the sit-in politics of the opposition made Pakistan’s economy suffer and incurred loss of billions of dollars.
He said, “Independence of opinion does not mean anarchy. However, peaceful protest is their right.” He said that the sit-in politics affected the foreign policy and the economy and now when the economy is stable again, the investments are increasing, load-shedding is declining and terrorism is being curbed, they are once again taking to streets.
