Baqar HussainFairly said, after the article published on NYTIMES, there was a proper action that was taken over Exact or BOL Network. But literally no action against Nawaz Family over Panapa Papers.
The population of Iceland is only 330,000. Largest protest by percentage of population in history? #PanamaPapers https://t.co/C1jjsYQodp
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) April 4, 2016
After the news broke, Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson who was granting an interview to a journalist stormed out of the interview over the weekend , amid claims he used secret offshore firm Mossack Fonseca to hide millions of dollars as Iceland’s economy collapsed.
Monday night, about 24,000 people gathered outside the parliament building demanding his resignation.
This happens when Iceland public came on roads, there was no other way for him.[/text_block_nav]
[text_block_nav title=”Calm Karachi”]Meanwhile in Pakistan after having Nawaz Family listed in Panama Papers[/text_block_nav]
Political Parties shining their politics over the issue
[text_block_nav title=”Imran Khan”]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w19YjDF1udE
[/text_block_nav]The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf decided on Tuesday to raise in the National Assembly the issue of Panama Papers revelations and an adjournment motion would be submitted in the assembly on Wednesday.
Shah Mahmood Qureshi told newsmen after a meeting presided over by the PTI chairman that Imran Khan would present the party’s stance in the house.
He said the leaked documents appeared to be genuine because journalists all over the country had declared them as correct. “The nation wants accountability of a certain class in Pakistan. We support it even if it starts from our party,” he added.
He said the PTI had decided to set up a committee of experts to look into legal aspects of offshore companies and how they deal with the money. The committee would submit its report to the party which would work out its strategy on the basis of its recommendations.
Mr Shah said India had also set up a judicial commission to investigate the matter and a similar commission was needed to be formed in Pakistan. He said that protests were being held in several countries over Panama Papers and people had been demanding resignation of their leaders.[/text_block_nav]
[text_block_nav title=”PPP”]Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on Tuesday has demanded resignation from Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif after the onset of the Panama Leaks that showed his family’s alleged involvement in making vast, unchecked investments overseas.[/text_block_nav]
PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, in a tweet, stated that the PM might blame PPP for the Panama Leaks.
Has he blamed us for the leak yet? #PanamaPapers #pmspeech
— BilawalBhuttoZardari (@BBhuttoZardari) April 5, 2016
PPP leader Raja Pervaiz Ashraf asked the premier to immediately resign, saying that Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz have not declared their complete assets.
On the other hand, Aitzaz Ahsan asked for the magic that created property worth billions. He also urged National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to launch investigation against PM Nawaz and his family as soon as possible.
#PanamaLeaks: PPP seeks probe into offshore assets https://t.co/IjiUXOpn1z pic.twitter.com/7oDN1DJ07W
— PPP Punjab (@Punjab_PPP) April 6, 2016
Meanwhile, opposition leader Khurshid Shah also lashed out at Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief and asked why he hid the offshore companies when they are legal.
Qamar-uz Zaman Kaira alleged that no accountability process can touch PML-N leaders as they run it according to their own interests. He said Nawaz Sharif has transferred his money abroad through money laundering.
PPP member Manzoor Wattoo also stepped into the debate and insisted the judiciary and NAB to take stern action against the perpetrators.
Earlier, a massive leak of 11.5 million documents had exposed secret offshore dealings of celebrities and world leaders.
The report revealed that Hussain and Hasan Nawaz Sharif, and Mariam Safdar, the sons and daughter of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, set up at least four offshore companies in British Virgin Islands (BVI). These companies owned at least six upmarket properties overlooking London‘s Hyde Park.
Kashif abbasi Analysis On Maryam Nawaz
What Nawaz has to say about it? Offering probe into Panama Papers
[text_block_nav title=”Nawaz Reaction”]Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, whose three children also feature in the explosive investigation, has announced that he is forming a high-level judicial commission to probe his family for any wrongdoing – something that many in Pakistan believe will be a fruitless exercise leading nowhere.[/text_block_nav]
The judicial commission will be led by a retired Supreme Court judge, said the premier while addressing the nation on state television.
Nawaz Sharif
Holds the record of being PM for the 3rd timeWill also hold the record of being illegible for the 2nd time#PanamaLeaks
— Moochar (@AsliBinLaden) April 6, 2016
Responding to criticism by his opponents, the PM said that certain individuals are involved in point scoring and are digging issues from decades ago.
“My family has faced a barrage of accusations,” said a visibly displeased Nawaz.
The prime minister also invited all politicians hurling allegations against him and his family to present evidence of any financial wrongdoing before the judicial commission.
“This commission will investigate the matter and give its verdict on what the actual facts are and how much weight these allegations have,” he said.
Nawaz, while explaining the start of his family business said, “My father started working in Lahore 25 years before the creation of Pakistan, and by the time of independence, Ittefaq Foundries had already achieved success.”
He added that another industrial plant was also established in Dhaka, but was lost to the fall of East Pakistan in 1971.
“On Jan 2, 1972, Bhutto took over the foundry in Lahore, and hence our assets were lost in mere moments.”
“My family was not involved in politics till much later, as such, even before I got into politics, we were an established industrial family.”
Explaining further, the prime minister stated that his father established another industrial plant in Makkah, following the military coup in 1999. The plant was “later sold, and my sons invested the funds into their businesses”.
Nawaz said that he has never mixed his family’s business with his functions as the Prime Minister of Pakistan and his focus remained on taking the country forward on the path of progress and prosperity and to end the era of darkness. He said though his aides were of the opinion that since there was no allegation against his person in the Panama Papers and he had done nothing unlawful or illegal, he was not under any obligation to respond to such allegations. However, Nawaz said he thought it was better to take the nation into confidence and share the history of his family’s business concerns spanning decades.
Nawaz said that their industries were contributing millions of rupees to the government in the form of taxes.
He said that in 1989, a ship named Jonathan was not allowed to offload raw material for their factory for a whole year, incurring a loss of Rs 500 million which he said was more than Rs 50 billion under the current value of rupee.
He said they were forced to go into exile and the government machinery was misused against them and their businesses.
“We had to face one-sided accountability, but we never faltered and emerged triumphant on every judicial forum as none of the allegations were ever proved against us,” he added.
Nawaz said that his son Hassan Nawaz had been residing in London since 1994 and Hussain Nawaz in Saudi Arabia since 2000.
“My sons are doing business in their countries of residence as per local laws. I’m surprised by the logic under which they are being criticised for doing their lawful businesses,” he said, adding that people who amassed wealth through unfair means neither owned companies nor kept the assets in their names.
The prime minister said that despite repeated attempts to destroy the family’s Ittefaq Foundries, his family repaid every penny of their debt amounting to around Rs 5.75 billion.
“Our family never got written off even a penny of the principal or mark-up amounts. It will not be wrong to say that we have repaid even those debts which were not owed by us,” he remarked.
“I fully understand the motives behind the fresh wave of allegations, but do not want to dissipate my energies on it,” the prime minister said at the end of his 14-minute recorded address.
WHY ?
[text_block_nav title=”Conclusion”]#NawazSharif‘s peech on #PanamaLeaks 13:47, Speech on #LahoreBlast 12:13.
took more time defending himself than condemning terrorism. #PMLN— Sophisticated Rebel☭ (@Farrukh_Abbas12) April 6, 2016
Why can’t we be more like Iceland? That’s a sentence I never imagined I would write, but when I see the pictures of thousands of indignant Icelanders taking to the streets to protest over their prime minister’s tax arrangements, it does make me wish that we Pakistanis had the same zero- tolerance attitude towards the tax affairs of rich and well-connected members of society. [/text_block_nav]
Syed Zaki Hussain
