Opposition wants PM’s resignation, not accountability: Aziz

“Whatever the opposition demanded, it was granted. However,  it now wants resignation of the prime minister by pressurizing the government rather than going through a proper channel for investigations into Panama Papers disclosures,” he said, while holding a presser along with Minister for Privatization, Muhammad Zubair.

Aziz said there was no bigger institution than the Supreme Court (SC) for delivering justice, but the opposition seems more interested in political point-scoring.

Muhammad Zubair said the prime minister was being targeted for political reasons.

He challenged the opposition to present any precedent in which father was held responsible for the deeds of his children. He said Nawaz Sharif’s name was not mentioned in Panama Papers and only his children were included in the leaks.

He said investigation should be held in light of the fundamental rights of Pakistan and International laws. The chairman said it will not be allowed to reinvent laws.

He said Imran Khan has never filed any tax returns in 20 years and he should also be held accountable for that. Speaking on the occasion, PML-N leader Daniyal Aziz said Supreme Court’s judges are fully empowered to rephrase ToRs and start investigations according to their own priority. He said PML-N does not have any objection if the commission starts investigation from the prime minister and his family, but it should not be dictated by any quarters.

In one of his recent addresses to clarify his position on Panama leaks, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had volunteered himself and his family for accountability and wrote a letter to the chief justice (CJ) of Pakistan to set up an inquiry commission comprising SC judges. Later, the opposition objected to the government-formulated ToRs of the commission.

The Panama leaks have claimed that hundreds of Pakistanis including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s children Maryam Safdar, Hassan and Hussain Nawaz either own or are beneficiary of offshore companies.

The opposition parties seek a judicial probe as to how the Sharif family accumulated such huge amounts of money to set up shell firms offshore. Amid all this, there were calls from the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) for Premier Sharif to step down.