No more solo flight: PTI, PPP leaders meet to review strategy on Panama leaks
Shah Mehmood Qureshi held meeting with Khurshid Shah and Aitzaz Ahsan today
ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) – In a bid to give tough time to Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif’s government on Panama leaks, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi held a meeting with Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leaders including Aitzaz Ahsan, Khurshid Shah and Saleem Mandviwala to discuss a joint strategy.
PTI leader Jehangir Tareen also met with Pakistan Muslim League Quaid-e-Azam (PML-Q) leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi. The PML-Q leader echoed the demand of other opposition leaders that the issue can only be solved if PM resignation. Tareen stated that the matter was not related to any party but is an international issue for which the opposition should stand united.
Reportedly, PTI chief Imran Khan has also signaled to summon All Parties Conference (APC) to launch a movement against the government.
Khan has also held telephonic conversation with Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Sirajul Haq today to discuss the matter.
Earlier on Monday, the PTI announced to postpone its intra-party elections for indefinite period, saying it wanted to divert all its energies to yet another movement against the government in the wake of Panama Papers.
In an ‘address to the nation’ from his Islamabad residence Bani Gala on Sunday, Imran Khan said his party will march towards Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s residence in Lahore’s Raiwind area instead of Red Zone in Islamabad.
He gave the government time till April 24 to take an appropriate action over the issue, after which he added he will announce a future course of action.
NAWAZ, IMRAN AND ZARDARI IN LONDON
In a surprise move, all the three leaders of major political parties including Nawaz Sharif, Imran Khan and Asif Ali Zardari are expected to be seen in London in the next few days.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will arrive in London on April 13 for medical checkup whereas Asif Ali Zardari is already present there. Ameeting is also expected between the two, sources told.
On the other hand, Imran Khan is expected arrive in London by April 14 where he will hold meetings on Panama leaks.
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar will also visit UK on April 16.
On April 5, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif addressed the nation by television to defend his family’s business practices, denying any wrongdoing and calling corruption claims "old accusations repeated over and over again".
Nawaz Sharif set up a commission to investigate allegations, based on leaked documents from Panama, that offshore companies headed by members of his family were avoiding paying taxes or disguising assets and their origins.
Last week, leaked documents from the Panama-based Mossack Fonseca law firm showed that Sharif’s daughter Mariam and sons Hussain and Hassan owned at least three offshore holding companies registered in the British Virgin Islands. Mossack Fonseca denied any wrongdoing.
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists said these companies were involved in the purchase and mortgage of at least $13.8 million in UK properties.
One of the holding companies also purchased another, Liberia-based, holding company for $11.2 million in August 2007, according to the documents.
The documents do not show the source of the assets held by the holding companies. They are part of a tranche of 11.5 million documents leaked by the ICIJ, dubbed the ‘Panama Papers’.
Political opponents, notably Imran Khan, have accused Sharif’s family of having gained the funds illegally through corruption during his two previous stints as prime minister in the 1990s.
Sharif and his family have denied any wrongdoing, saying the assets were gained legally, mainly through the family’s network of businesses and industries in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
