JOINING OECD CONVENTION TO BRING TRANSPARENCY IN GOVERNANCE: 

 

He directed that inter-ministerial consultation should be undertaken to determine Pakistan's readiness for accession to other international conventions and protocols which create transparency and openness in governance.

He said the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions and the Open Government Partnership (OGP), an initiative of the UK Government, should both be reviewed and recommendations should be made on Pakistan's preparedness for joining these multilateral fora.

He said accession to the multilateral agreements would augment Pakistan's efforts to combat fiscal crime and further strengthen its compliance framework on anti-corruption. The minister directed that all necessary steps for joining both fora should be undertaken expeditiously.

The meeting was attended by Secretary Finance Dr Waqar Massod, Special Assistant to Finance Minister Tariq Pasha and other senior officials of the Finance Ministry.

          PM’s son-in-law for broad based inquiry.                                                                                                                                                                                

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           ISLAMABAD: Captain Muhammad Safdar (retd), the son-in-law of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, on Friday filed Terms of Reference (ToRs) in Supreme Court for the proposed judicial commission that would hold a probe into the Panama leaks.

While resuming the Panama Leaks case in response to the pleas of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and three other petitioners against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and family members for allegedly holding offshore companies, a five-member larger bench led by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali had asked all the parties to the case to submit ToRs for the proposed judicial commission. 

Filing the proposed ToRs, Safdar urged the proposed judicial commission to examine information pertaining to the involvement of Pakistani citizens, persons of Pakistan-origin and legal entities in offshore companies in Panama or any other country. 

He said the proposed judicial commission should determine in each case whether any law for the time being in force has been infringed, and if so, also determine responsibility for such infringement. 

“Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, the Commission shall determine whether the provisions of laws relating to income tax, wealth tax, foreign exchange, companies and elections in force at the relevant time have been infringed, with due regard infer-alia to the following matters, as may be applicable to each case:- (a) details of properties held by the off-shore companies; (b) sources of income utilized to purchase the properties in (a) above, (c) Income tax if any payable/paid on the income in (b) above; and (d) details of sellers of the properties in (a) above,” Safdar said. 

He also submitted, “to examine information relating to written-off bank loans, including:- (i) Report of the Commission on Written-off Loans set up by the Supreme Court of Pakistan; and (ii) other cases of bank loans written-off after the period covered by the said Commission by former or present holders of elective public office, and determine whether in any case loans were written-off through political influence or other than commercial considerations”. 

He further said the proposed judicial commission may examine the information relating to transfer from Pakistan of funds which have originated from corruption, commissions and kickbacks and identify the persons responsible besides making such recommendations as it may deem appropriate in all cases. 

Was Imran ditched by PTI Punjab chapter?

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan is regarded by many as a strong-willed person. However, on Tuesday before daybreak, this man called off his much-trumpeted plan to lock down Islamabad — to the dismay of his allies and zealous supporters.

The main  reason for this unexpected move, according to some sources, was Imran’s realisation that the PTI Punjab chapter’s second-tier leaders had ditched the party at the eleventh hour primarily in the face of the Punjab government’s well-worked-out strategy to stop it from mobilising public for the protest.

PM Nawaz takes jibe at Imran Khan, says liars cannot lead Pakistan

Also, the rally led by Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak from the party’s power base on October 31 had much fewer participants than Imran had expected.

Comprehending the possible scenario on Nov 2, Imran quickly made up his mind to abandon the lockdown plan. And around 6 am on Nov 1, the PTI chief telephoned Khattak to stop the march.

Background discussions with the party’s senior leaders suggest that a hot topic of discussion at Imran’s residence in Bani Gala was the overall poor response extended by Punjab to the protest call.

“We have confirmed reports from different quarters that some regional leaders and elected provincial assembly members from Punjab offered voluntary arrests to police on October 30 and 31,” a senior leader confided.

Top leaders from Punjab present inside Bani Gala on the night of October 31 found it difficult to have exact knowledge of the whereabouts of the second-tier leadership from Punjab as cell phones of a majority of them went off as Punjab government intensified its crackdown.

“Some 2,000 party leaders and activists were arrested by the Punjab Police on Oct 30 and 31,” he said.

He said it was Imran’s decision to keep senior leadership from Punjab – Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Jehangir Khan Tareen, Aleem Khan and others – at Bani Gala.

Fiery exchange exposes rupture in PAT-PTI ties

“The PTI’s Punjab plan collapsed as the senior most leaders from the province were present in Islamabad while the second-tier leadership, which was tasked to mobilise and bring the public to Islamabad, courted arrests or did not attend calls of their superiors,” he said.

“They [party’s Punjab leaders] just disappointed Imran Khan,” he said, adding that these leaders would be made answerable for their failure in the coming days.

This situation forced Imran to take refuge behind the Supreme Court of Pakistan that is currently hearing the Panamagate case, contrary to his previous announcement that the protest would go ahead side by side with the court hearing.

According to another senior leader, this was the reason why names of PTI Punjab organisers – Mian Mehmoodur Rashid, Ijaz Chaudhry, and Chaudhry Sarwar – were first not included in the list of speakers who were to address the thanksgiving rally in Islamabad on Wednesday.

“Imran Khan asked for the list of speakers prepared by his close confidants. Punjab organisers’ names were not there. He intervened and directed to include their names so as not to give a negative message to the public and media about his anger for them,” he said.

In every crisis there is an opportunity for someone. And the PTI’s K-P chapter, headed by Pervez Khattak, appeared as a beneficiary of that crisis for at least fighting and creating a scene on national level, he added.

“For that reason he was the last speaker before Imran Khan to take the podium contrary to the past practice when Shah Mehmood Qureshi used to address the public before Imran Khan,” he said.

Amnesty condemns Pakistan over crackdown on PTI protesters

A PTI spokesperson when contacted negated the impression, saying the PTI was united and ready to fight the atrocities of incumbent regime. “Punjab leaders planned to leave for Islamabad on November 2 morning but before that the Supreme Court intervened and defused the tension,” he said.

About the 6 am call made by Imran to the K-P chief minister, the spokesperson said Imran had asked Khattak to go back to Swabi from Burhan interchange and come back after regrouping, adding that there is no reality in the claim that Imran was disappointed with Punjab organisers.

“In speeches delivered on the thanksgiving day, leaders from Punjab were given 40 per cent share, while they can also be seen sitting in the front row on the container,” he added.

He said since day one Imran Khan was demanding that either Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif step down or present himself for accountability. “Our prime demand is met and now the prime minister’s case on corruption charges is under consideration at the apex court,” he concluded.