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ISLAMABAD: The opposition leaders on Monday have strongly criticized Prime Minister Imran Khan and cabinet members following the revelations made in the Pandora Papers, a release of millions of documents detailing how leaders around the world have used offshore tax havens to stash assets.
Spokesperson for the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) Marriyum Aurangzeb told international news agency (Reuters) that PM Imran had to remove all of those identified in the files.
“Prime Minister Imran Khan is bound to direct all his ministers and aides named in Pandora leaks to resign with immediate effect,” Aurangzeb told the news agency.
Meanwhile, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Sherry Rehman said she wasn’t surprised that the premier’s close aides were named in the Pandora Papers.
پنڈورا پیپرز میں وزیراعظم کے قریبی لوگوں کے نام آنا ہمارے لئے کوئی تعجب کی بات نہیں۔ ہم جانتے ہیں کرپشن فری پاکستان/احتساب کے نعرے کھوکھلے اور اپوزیشن کو نشانا بنانے کا ایک طریقہ ہے۔ کیا وزیراعظم اپنے لوگوں کے خلاف سپریم کورٹ جائے گے؟ یا دیگر اسکینڈلز کے طرح رپورٹ طلب کی جائے گی؟ pic.twitter.com/QY5K72yxKc
— SenatorSherryRehman (@sherryrehman) October 4, 2021
“We all know that slogans of corruption, free Pakistan and accountability are all hollow and a way to target the opposition,” the PPP Senator said, asking “will the Prime Minister go to the Supreme Court against his people? Or will a report be called for like in other scandals?”
Jamaat-e-Islami chief Sirajul Haq, in his statement, demanded the immediate resignations of government ministers and advisers named in the Pandora Papers.
He said that ministers and advisers should resign if their names are mentioned in the Pandora Papers, otherwise they should be sacked. “For transparency in the investigation and to avoid government influence, it was necessary to remove the government employees whose names were involved,” he added.
The report
The ICIJ stated that key members of Prime Minister Imran’s inner circle, including cabinet ministers, their families and major financial backers have secretly owned an array of companies and trusts holding millions of dollars of hidden wealth.
The Pandora Papers revealed several Pakistani politicians including Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin, Minister for Water Resources Moonis Elahi, PTI’s Senator Faisal Vawda, son of PML-N’s Ishaq Dar, PPP’s Sharjeel Memon, the family of Minister for Industries and Production Khusro Bakhtiar, and PTI leader Abdul Aleem Khan.
PM Imran forms high-level cell
Prime Minister Imran Khan has constituted a high-level commission to probe Pakistanis named in leaked financial documents, under the name of ‘Pandora Papers’, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry announced.
“The high-level cell under the Prime Minister’s Inspection Commission will investigate all individuals mentioned in the Pandora Papers and will present facts before the nation,” the Information and Broadcasting Minister said in a Tweet.
