Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Senator Dr Babar Awan Tuesday said that there is no way that Prime Nawaz Sharif will get a clean chit in the Panama Papers case being heard by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The Pakistan People’s Party Senator was speaking to Sardar Khan Niazi in Roze News program Sachi Baat.
Commenting on the political scenario the Senator said that it was unfortunate to see that during the tenure of current government opposition stuck a deal with the government in the name of reconciliation, and I rebelled against this ‘dealing’ since day one. Dr. Babar Awan said that there is no concept of friendly opposition in the political dictionary and in reality opposition is actually the government in waiting. He said that the role of opposition is vital to point out flaws in government’s policies but the current opposition has failed miserably in this regard. Citing the example of tenure of former President Pervez Musharraf, the senator said Maulana Fazlur Rehman was the leader of the opposition in those days but the public never accepted him as one, and it was late Makhdoom Muhammad Ameen Faheem who was considered the opposition leader. He said there is a similar scenario these days.
The Senator however commented that the good thing is that as far as the Panama case goes all opposition parties unanimously agree that the Panama Papers case must be properly investigated. Commenting on the Panama Papers case and the role of Pakistan People’s Party he said that the party is divided into two factions with one faction playing its due role as the opposition party but there’s another faction that is not performing its role. He said that due to the policy of the decision makers in the party the party has suffered across the country.
He said that I was against the party’s decision of ‘welcoming’ the victory of Nawaz Sharif in the last elections as all political leaders including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif himself agreed that the elections were rigged.
Commenting on the Panama Papers case he said that the stance of Imran Khan which I also endorsed that state institutes won’t investigate the corruption of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has now been vindicated in the Apex Court. As in today’s (Tuesday’s) hearing heads of various institutions said before the five member bench hearing the Panama Papers case that we won’t take action against the Prime Minister.
Answering a question he said that despite harsh stance of Indian Prime Minister Modi and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani against Pakistan, Prime Mister Nawaz Sharif has always maintained soft stance against them. He said Federal government has miserably failed to raise voice against India and Afghanistan, ‘It is an open secret that India and Afghanistan have formed a nexus against Pakistan, but the Prime Minister is tight lipped on the matter’ he added.
Commenting on the upcoming elections Dr. Babar Awan said that the party that claims victory in Punjab will be able to form the government. Citing previous examples he said that in Punjab traditionally the party riding a wave sweeps the elections. He said that this time it is obvious that which party is riding the wave (he referred towards the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf) without naming any party. The Pakistan People’s Party leader however commented that in Punjab there will be a three way fight involving Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Pakistan People’s Party and Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz.