Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Senator Rehman Malik, leader of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and former interior minister, said on Monday that his party stood firm on the demand for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s resignation. Talking to the media outside the Zardari House in the federal capital, Malik said there would be no compromise on the investigation into the Panama leaks involving prime minister’s family. He said that PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari called upon the prime minister to resign right after the Panama leaks and before any opposition political party made this demand. He said that Zardari’s rallies and nationwide support to his party baffled some powerful politicians. He said it was not the first time that late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s party was being targeted on political grounds. He said that two former prime ministers associated with his party we still fighting cases in courts. Ever since the Panama leaks saw the light of the day in April this year, country’s political machinery has not been seen at rest even for a single day. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s daughter and sons were named in the leaks of the Mossack Fonseca as owners of offshore companies. However, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which studied the leaked documents, does not allege any wrongdoing on part of any of the person named in the leaks. The leaks merely talk about the people, with relevant documents, who established offshore companies. However, establishment of offshore companies is generally seen as an attempt to evade tax and stash wealth abroad. The Icelandic premier resigned in the wake of the Panama leaks because his offshore company was exposed. British Prime Minister David Cameron gave his explanation and details of his assets to the parliamentarians after the leaks showed that his family owned an offshore company in the past. Opposition parties, mainly the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), have been demanding a fair audit of the wealth, property, businesses and industries owned by Nawaz Sharif in the wake of the Panama leaks.