Shireen Mazari asked ‘to keep my speech short’, reveals Khursheed Shah

ISLAMABAD: The Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah on Tuesday said the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) wanted to stage walk out of the specially convened National Assembly session to discuss Panama Papers data leak.

“Before my address, Shireen Mazari told me rather harshly to ‘keep my speech short’ as they wanted to leave the House immediately,” Shah told Geo News.

“MQM (Muttahida Qaumi Movement) was with us in our decision to walk out,” he said.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif asked parliament on Monday to form a commission to investigate allegations stemming from the Panama Papers leak but opposition lawmakers walked out, saying he had evaded questions about his family’s affairs.

Opposition parties walked out soon after Prime Minister Nawaz stopped speaking, angered that seven questions they posed to him ahead of the parliamentary session were not answered.

“Not a single question has been answered by the PM,” said Shah.

Imran Khan, leader of the opposition PTI party, said: “We didn’t need to hear such a long story. He could have shown the documents as I have done so.”

Prime Minister Nawaz has been under pressure since documents released as part of the Panama Papers data leak showed his children owned several off-shore companies and used them to buy properties in London.

He denies wrongdoing, as do his children.

The leak of documents from a Panamanian law firm has captured global attention, uncovering among other things the use of off-shore businesses by wealthy individuals and corporations worldwide.

While such off-shore companies are often not illegal per se, their use spurs suspicions of illegal activity, such as money-laundering, corruption, and tax evasion.

— Additional reporting by Reuters