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Panama Papers: PTI to seek support of all political parties

 The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) on Tuesday began a flurry of meetings with top leadership of other parties to build a consensus on its campaign to force Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif hold an impartial probe into the Panama Papers revelations against the Sharif family's wealth stashed abroad.
Senior PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi who heads political committee of the party met Pakistan People's Party leaders Syed Khurshid Shah and Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan and also Jamaat-e-Islami's Sirjaul Haq. Earlier PTI chairman Imran Khan had called Sirajul Haq and explained his plans to launch anti-Sharif agitation.
On Monday, Imran announced he was postponing the PTI's intra-party polls due on June 1 in order to focus on movement for probe into Panama Papers. Talking to newsmen after core committee meeting of his party, Imran said he believed that all opposition parties, civil society and other socio-economic forums should unite to take advantage of the opportunity created by the Panama Papers to root out the cancer of corruption in the country and put all public leaders to ruthless accountability process.
Imran said he had no desire to stage a solo flight this time but seek support of all political parties and other forums to wage this struggle, he offered himself for accountability on top of the list.
"We will wait till April 24 and whether or not the government agrees to an investigation into the Panama Papers under the Supreme Court's chief justice," he asserted. The meeting decided to build momentum and try to win the support of other parties and segments of society to become part of the PTI's planned drive, which will culminate in a sit-in at Raiwind for an indefinite period. Imran has taken a clear and categorical line unlike the other opposition parties, to take the issue to its logical conclusion, as he insists the names of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's children have appeared in these documents showing that they own offshore companies. He said Sharif has indulged in money laundering, corruption, tax evasion and setting up offshore companies to conceal his assets and avoid taxes. He has lost all moral authority after these damning disclosures and must step down, he added.
The PTI core committee constituted a number of committees to tackle the issue. These include political committee to contact other political leaders and another to collect all relevant information. He also called upon overseas Pakistanis to join this campaign saying that while expatriates are remitting over $19 billion to prop up the national economy, the rulers are shifting funds abroad.
After meeting Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Aitzaz said there are a lot of common points between the two parties, though the PPP has not yet made any commitment for which it would seek final decision by the party leadership.
Sirajul Haq said the leaks have made disclosures about prime minister's children adding that he is responsible to explain questions raised about them.
news@khaleejtimes.com

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