Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The joint opposition reiterated on Monday that it would boycott the committee discussing the terms of reference for the judicial commission on the Panama leaks if the government does not shun its doggedness.

Senator Aitzaz Ahsan, opposition member of the ToRs committee, said on Monday that opposition members presented their viewpoint on the terms of reference for the judicial commission on the Panama leaks and went beyond their limits, but the government was sticking to a single point. Talking to Daily Times, he said that opposition members of the committee were participating in the meeting on the request of the National Assembly speaker against their will.

“As a matter of fact, we don’t expect anything positive about the ToRs from the meeting convened by the speaker,” he said. He said the government side wanted accountability of all except Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family. He said the opposition showed the maximum flexibility, but to no avail. He said the opposition was united on the issue.

Sahibzada Tariq Ullah, leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami and member of the ToRs committee, told this scribe that the joint opposition would hold a meeting before going to the meeting convened by the National Assembly speaker on Tuesday (today). “We will decide after consultations with all opposition parties whether to go to the meeting convened by the speaker or not,” he said.

Tariq Bashir Cheema, member of the National Assembly from the Pakistan Muslim League, said there were slim chances of opposition members’ participation in the meeting convened by the speaker. He said the joint opposition knew there was no hope for a change in government’s attitude on the issue. He said the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) wanted to save the prime minister and his family, but the opposition wanted the accountability to begin from the prime minister.