Daily Times

PESHAWAR: Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA) Shahram Khan Tarakai and his father Senator Liaqat Taraki face a hearing in Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on 23 June after named in Panama Paper after ANP Senator Bushra Gohar seeking their disqualification submitted a plea to the ECP.

Bushra Gohar said on Saturday PTI senior members Senator Laiqat Tarakai and his two sons Khyber Pakutunkhwa (KP) health Minister Shahram Tarakai and former MPA Muhammad Ali Taraki were linked to offshore companies in Panama. Bushra Gohar filed an application with the ECP seeking in her counsel that attested copies of nomination papers and assets’ declarations submitted by the PTI Minister Shahram Tarakai and Senator Liaqat Tarakai were based on fake information and they had concealed their assists and liabilities record from ECP.

ANP Senator Bushra Gohar, speaking to Daily Times said that Imran Khan has been tickled pink when Nawaz Sharif’s family members’ names were reveled in the Panama Paper, but was tight-lipped about his own party workers being implicated in the same leak. Since the senior members of the PTI have confirmed the ownership of the assets disclosed in the Panama Papers, they were liable to be tried under the law for their criminal offences, money laundering [under the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2010], and smuggling money [offences falling under the Customs Act 1969]. Similarly, the PTI senator and health minister of KP had willfully concealed their assets both inside the country and abroad in their declarations to the ECP. There has also been a documented statement of Shahram Tarakai that he was guarantor of his father prior to his nomination as senator.

In its application to ECP, Bushra Gohar had taken the plea for suo moto action against the KP Health Minister Shahram Tarakai and his father senator Laiqat Taraki who did not meet the criteria laid down under Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution. Therefore, the ECP should disqualify them from holding public office forthwith. PTI and PPP, acting as joint opposition on the issue of the Panama Papers demanded a judicial inquiry. The PTI chairman has often announced that the party would initiate street protests if Nawaz Sharif failed to resolve the issue according to opposition TORs.

Senior member of ANP senator Bushra Gohar said the fate of the application would be decided on its first hearing on 23 June in Islamabad, and the chief election commissioner Pakistan would decide whether to discard or accept the application for further proceedings. A senior PTI member declined to comment on the issue but a member of the women’s wing, requesting anonymity, said that after the Panama revelations, the core committee intended to transfer Shahram Khan Tarkai with Doctor Haider Ali in KP’s Heath Ministry.