Sharif family decide to defend themselves in media | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

Sharif family decide to defend themselves in media

Pakistan Press Foundation

ISLAMABAD – Although the Panama Papers leak, exposing some offshore companies of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s children, has no legal consequences, the Sharifs have decided to fight it out in media to save the family’s politics from its negative fallouts. Sources in the party said PM Nawaz was quite disturbed after the publishing of family’s hand in the offshore companies and discussed the matter with the close aides and family members including Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

The sources said that in the morning the party’s leaders who spoke to media altogether rejected the health of the claim and termed it fake and fabricated but later on after brisk and all dimensional discussion on the matter it was decided instead of denying it the party should defend it at all available forums as no offshore company was registered in the name of either PM Nawaz or CM Shehbaz.
The legal experts said that legally PML-N leadership needn’t worry on these leaks and mainly it relates to Prime Minister’s sons Hussain and Hassan both settled abroad and are running their businesses for several years.

However, to control political damage, in a meeting with his close political aides a strategy to counter the onslaught in media against the Sharif family was devised as from Maryam Nawaz to Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid and others showed up on the media channels to vociferously plead the case.
The main task of handling the issue was taken up by Maryam Nawaz, who came up with categorical denial of having any company or property registered in her name.

“My brother has made me a trustee in one of his corporations which only entitles me to distribute assets to my brother Hussain’s family/childern if needed,” Maryam wrote on her verified Twitter account.
The Panama Papers leak, comprising 11.5 million documents from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca, shows how some of the world’s most powerful people have secreted away their money in offshore jurisdictions.

Sources in the ruling PML-N said to counter the campaign, Maryam would be handling the whole affair through a think tank and even the other media managers.

These sources further said Maryam was already dealing with the party’s media management and the young parliamentarians appearing on media shows for image building of the party were getting direct feed from the Maryam-led think tank. Political analysts commenting on the Panama Papers leak said that whether these allegations have any legal value or not but surely PML-N would face a severe credibility dent and it all depend on how efficiently the party would handle the issue.

The Nation