ISLAMABAD: The 12-member parliamentary committee of government and opposition leaders agreed on a four-point preamble for TORs in its meeting held on Thursday.
The committee held its first official meeting today to finalize TORs that would be followed by a proposed judicial commission investigating allegations of Pakistanis holding offshore assets named in the Panama Papers leaks.
Speaking to the media after the meeting ended Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said that out of six points that came under discussion, four have been agreed upon with consensus by the committee.
The opposition took back two out of the 15 points they wanted to be included in the TORs, Dar said.
Railway minister Khawaja Saad Rafique said that the meeting was conducted in good spirit and the opposition and government worked together to arrive at a consensus.
Pakistan People’s Party stalwart Aitzaz Ahsan said that the government is insisting on the TORs that the Supreme Court has rejected. “We have sat to discuss the TORs with an open mind. While there are differences, we have also agreed over a few points.”
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that the opposition had initially proposed 15 points to be added in the TORs. “We will not leave out any important issue,” he said.
Earlier it was decided that the committee would work without a chairman and all members would take equal part in arriving at a consensus.
The government is represented by Senator Hasil Bazinjo, Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar, Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Akram Khan Durrani and Anusha Rahman in the committee.
Six members from the joint opposition include Senator Aitzaz Ahsan, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Ilyas Bilour, Barrister Saifullah, Tariqullah and Tariq Bashir Cheema. Agencies
