Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Although the seven-point agenda for today’s session of the National Assembly is a routine, it would be the most important session for the government as well as the opposition because Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would make a policy statement on the Panama leaks in the house during this session.

It is expected that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan would attend the session. According to the sources, Khan has made his mind to give the government a tough time in the parliament on the Panama leaks.

Official sources told Daily Times that the government had developed a strategy for today’s (Monday’s) session and a final touch to this strategy would be given before the National Assembly session. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has convened a meeting of senior ministers and legal experts to give final touches to his speech, which he was going to deliver in the lower house of the parliament.

The government has conveyed to National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would only make a policy statement on the floor of the house and he would not be bound to answer the questions put up by the opposition leaders. However, he would listen the speech of Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah, leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly. The speech would be telecast live on the Pakistan Television.

According to the sources in the government, during his speech in the National Assembly the prime minister would explain his position on the Panama leaks, reality of the offshore companies belonging to his sons and how, why and when were these companies set up. The prime minister might offer the opposition to establish a parliamentary committee on terms of reference for the judicial commission that would investigate the reports of the Panama Papers.

On the other hand, opposition parties would hold their joint meeting at the Parliament House at 3pm on Monday (today). Shah would chair the meeting. Senior leaders of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Awami National Party (ANP), Pakistan Muslim League (PML), Balochistan National Party (BNP), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Awami Muslim League (AML) would attend the meeting.

At the meeting, the opposition parties would devise their strategy for the National Assembly session and discuss Supreme Court chief justice’s refusal to set up a judicial commission on the basis of the terms of reference suggested by the government, the second instalment of the Panama leaks and PTI chairman’s statement about his offshore company. “We will devise a joint strategy on prime minister’s address and finalise the speech of the opposition leader. A request would be sent to the speaker through a delegation that he should also allow other parliamentary leaders to speak during the assembly session,” said the sources in the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). They said that opposition parties would remain peaceful during prime minister’s speech, but they could behave otherwise if the prime minister refused to answer their questions.

The Senate session will also resume today (Monday) after a two-day break. The Senate will resume its session at 4pm to discuss important national issues and do the legislative business.