PM Imran terms FATF-related bills 'matter of national interest'

ISLAMABAD: Terming Financial Action Task Force-related bills ‘matter of national interest’, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday said that they will get passed the bills through the Senate at all costs, ARY News reported, citing sources.

Talking to a delegation of senators belonging to the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and its allied parties who called on him in Islamabad, PM Imran said that the opposition parties united only to conceal their corruption.

He maintained that they will expose those elements who were opposing the bills pertaining to the national security before the masses. The prime minister said that they will not bow down to such blackmailing and reiterated that no corrupt leader will get NRO.

Earlier on August 28, Prime Minister Imran Khan had said that opposition parties are “blackmailing” his government over FATF bills despite being aware of the importance of the desired legislation and repeated his resolve not to give the opposition leaders any sort of “relief” in corruption cases.

In an exclusive interview with ARY News’ anchor Arshad Sharif, the PM had said that his government had inherited the FATF grey-list status and is trying hard to comply with the international body’s guidelines to bring Pakistan out of the list but “self-serving” opposition party leaders were trying to blackmail his government against supporting the bills “just to save their ill-gotten wealth”.

“They have this one-point agenda, if I grant them an NRO (a euphemism for relief in corruption cases), all will be well,” the PM had said.