Sparks fly as NA starts debate on Panama Papers scandal

ISLAMABAD: Opposition and government lawmakers delivered fiery speeches and took jibes at each other on the floor of the National Assembly on Wednesday as the House began its debate on the Panama Papers scandal.

Opposition lawmakers returned to the House today, ending their boycott following Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's speech in the National Assembly earlier this week.

At the start of the session today, NA Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq informed the House that it was decided in a meeting of parliamentary parties to suspend the Question Hour as the members wanted to discuss the Panama Papers scandal.

Leader of the Opposition Khursheed Shah criticized the prime minister, saying questions being raised against Nawaz Sharif were because of his own family’s mistakes.

"Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif should have asked his children to come forward and explain,” said Shah, who was the first to speak on the floor of the House today.

“If you are not going to declare your assets according to the constitution then there will be an issue. Where did the money come from to buy flats? These questions still remain unanswered.”

Read in detail: Sharif family was never in the country’s 22 richest, says Khursheed Shah

The senior Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader said that, according to records, Sharif paid only Rs2,700 in 1993, Rs4,000 in 1994, and none in taxes in 1995. “Even Quaid-e-Azam paid Rs4,400 in taxes in 1948.”

He said that it was crucial to ascertain the money trail to the offshore companies of the prime minister’s children and to clarify if the money was ill-gotten or sent through legal means.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan presented the accounts of his Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital to be investigated on the the terms of reference (ToRs) that the prime minister will be probed on.

Khan offered to present accounts of the Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital for transparency check to the assembly. “Try Shaukat Khanum on the same ToRs that the Prime Minister will be tried on.”

"If I wanted to make money I would have made a sugar mill or a factory. Why would I create a charity hospital?” he said. He threatened street protests if the prime minister does not give a satisfactory answer to questions regarding the Panama Papers.

Also see: PTI chief presents Shaukat Khanum hospital for accountability

Khan, who has been vocal against tax evasion and corrupt practices, has recently come under attack from opponents after reports surfaced that he set up an offshore company to buy an apartment in the UK.

But Federal Minister Khawaja Asif did not cut the former cricketer turned politician any slack, grilling him over alleged discrepancies in the financial reports and dealings of the Shaukat Khanum Hospital and Khan’s offshore company.

Information Minister Senator Pervez Rashid taunted the opposition’s protest walk-out and boycott of the assembly following the PM's speech on Monday.

"What happened that day…it was not a walk-out, boycott, or catwalk,” said Rashid, whose remarks were met with laughter from the treasury benches and uproar from opposition lawmakers.

Read more: Those asking for accountability should be clean themselves, says Khawaja Asif

Opposition leader Khursheed Shah delivered a sharp response to Rashid's sarcastic jibe.

"You were the cat and we were walking behind you. It was not a cat-walk, that’s the reality,” he said.

On Monday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif asked parliament to form a commission to investigate allegations stemming from the Panama Papers leak but opposition lawmakers walked out, saying he had evaded questions about his family's affairs.

Sharif has been under pressure since documents released as part of the Panama Papers data leak showed his children owned several off-shore companies and used them to buy properties in London.

He denies wrongdoing, as do his children.

The opposition has seized on the Panama Papers scandal as a fresh opportunity to try to unseat Sharif, who told parliament that his wealth was acquired legally in the decades before he entered politics and no money was siphoned off-shore.