Panamagate: PTI set to end its boycott of National Assembly

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has decided end its boycott of the National Assembly after failing to win a verdict from the Supreme Court against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif over the Panamagate issue last week.

The decision was announced by PTI chairman Imran Khan after presiding over a meeting of the party office-bearers and parliamentarians at his Banigala residence

Khan said the decision was made in order to seek an explanation from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for allegedly making a false statement about his foreign properties on the floor of the house.

The new session of the National Assembly begins today.

Khan said an adjournment motion as well as a privilege motion would be moved by PTI against Sharif for his act of "lying to the parliament and the nation".

This comes hours after the main opposition Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) submitted a privilege motion against the prime minister over the same issue.

Khan had announced the boycott of the National Assembly in October till a verdict from the Supreme Court in the Panama Papers case but the hearing of the case was deferred by the court till the first week of January.

The PTI chief said his party would seek a full-fledged debate on the matter through the adjournment motion.

He said the next strategy of the party would be decided after seeing the response of parliament in respect to the two motions in the Assembly.

Asserting that Sharif had made different statements in the Supreme Court and in the parliament, Khan said that the prime minister had informed the parliament of having all the required documents to prove trail of the money used for purchasing properties in London but his lawyers failed to produce any document in the court.

Citing that impeachment was faced by the Brazilian president only for providing wrong figures about the budget to parliament, PTI chief said that here the prime minister has told lies to hide his corruption and properties worth billions of rupees.

He alleged that Sharif was now "eying" the Supreme Court and the army after having destroyed each and every institution

"Now Nawaz Sharif wants control over the SC and the army. He wants to convert the army into the Punjab police. I hope these two institutions will not disappoint the nation and will not come under their (rulers') control," Khan said.