Opposition parties react to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s address

Hours after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s address to the nation, the opposition parties started reacting to what he said. The PM came in front of the nation to clear his family name from the Panama Papers’ allegations that his children have offshore holdings that the public does not know about.

Politicians from the opposition parties severely criticized the Premier’s decision to form a judicial commission with just one retired judge. During a private talk show, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader, Asad Umar said that the entire nation was disappointed over the “one-member judicial commission” formed to probe a matter of such criticality. Another PTI spokesman, Naeemul Haq, also released a statement which highlighted that Nawaz Sharif did not specify who would choose the judge and whether that commission will be tasked to examine the family’s assets abroad as well.

The leader of Jamaat-i-Islami, Sirajul Haq, did not hold back from airing his views on the matter, and said that instead of a judicial commission led by a retired judge, the matter should be handed over to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) so that the entire truth emerges. He later demanded that if the allegations are proven true, then the Prime Minister should be ‘disqualified under article 62’ of the constitution.

Opposition party, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), were also displeased with what the Prime Minister had to say during the address. “Instead of answering questions raised in the leaked documents, the PM resorted to a blame-game against PPP leaders,” Farhatullah Babar, the party’s spokesperson, said in a statement issued soon after the PM’s address.

During the Prime Minister’s address to the nation, he explained how his father had established businesses even before the creation of Pakistan and how his family had gotten the wealth which has now been invested in legal business abroad. He even invited all politicians levying allegations against him and his family to present evidence of any financial misconduct, in front of the judicial commission.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=52549

Posted by fatimaarshad on Apr 6 2016. Filed under Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.