Sharif family was never in the country’s 22 richest: Khursheed Shah

ISLAMABAD: Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah on Wednesday said questions being raised against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif were because of his own family.

“Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif should have asked his children to come forward and explain,” said Shah, returning to the House today after ending a boycott of the opposition after the prime minister’s speech in the parliament on Monday.

“If you are not going to declare your assets according to the constitution then there will be an issue,” Shah said. “Where did the money come from to buy flats? These questions remained unanswered.”

The opposition leader said Prime Minister Nawaz’s family was never included in the ‘22 rich families’. “If Ittefaq Foundries was nationalised then from where did all the money come from,” Shah said, adding that they got to know about Gulf Steel only after the premier had mentioned it.

Shah, a senior Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader, said Quaid-e-Azam paid Rs4,400 in taxes in 1948, whereas Prime Minister Nawaz’s recorded paid taxes stand at Rs2,700 in 1993. “Prime Minister himself said that in 1994 he paid Rs4,000 in taxes and none in 1995.”

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.