‘Sabotage effort to exit grey list’: Imran Khan stings Oppn for defeating FATF-linked bills

Imran Khan announced the defeat of the two legislations in Pakistan’s Senate on Twitter, saying they were critical of Pakistan’s efforts to get off the grey list.

Prime Minister Imran Khan, who has lately gone on an overdrive to dodge the global dirty money watchdog’s blacklist, on Tuesday suffered a huge setback when Pakistan’s Senate defeated two legislations that were seen to be critical to efforts to get his country off the hook at the next Financial Action Task Force review.

Pakistan PM Imran Khan suffered a massive setback when the opposition defeated two legislations that he said, were linked to the FATF review in October(Imran Khan/Facebook)

Khan announced the defeat of the two legislations on Twitter, delivering his sharpest takedown of opposition leaders who he tweeted, were trying to save their “corrupt money” and “sabotage Pak efforts to exit FATF grey list”.

“Opposition tries to hide behind facade of democracy to protect their loot & plunder. To blackmail for NRO (National Reconciliation Ordinance) by defanging NAB (National Accountability Bureau, they would even have Pak put on FATF black list to destroy nation’s economy & increase poverty,” Imran Khan said.

Pakistan had last returned to the FATF ‘grey list’ in June 2018 when the anti-terror funding watchdog found deficiencies in Islamabad’s money laundering and anti-terror funding laws and their implementation. Over the last one week, Khan has enacted laws and designated over 100 people as terrorists to evade the blacklist at the next FATF review expected in October.

Khan’s government had been able to get the two legislations - Anti-Money Laundering (Second Amendment) Bill and the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Waqf Properties Bill - cleared by Pakistan’s lower house after a heated debate that mostly centered around the role of the National Accountability Bureau.

But the twin legislations appeared to have hit a roadblock in the Senate. 

An upset Khan turned to Twitter, venting against the opposition leaders. Khan said the opposition leaders were looking for an immunity deal like the one offered by ex-President Pervez Musharraf back in 2007.

The 2007 legislation, National Reconciliation Ordinance, was a controversial law promulgated by General Musharraf as part of a deal with Pakistan Peoples Party’s Benazir Bhutto. It allowed amnesty from legal action to politicians, political workers and bureaucrats accused of wrongdoing between January 1986 and October 1999. It was quashed by Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry soon after. Gen Musharraf sacked the chief justice, a move that plunged the country into a political and judicial crisis.

Khan, who accused the opposition of threatening to pull down his government unless given a similar immunity deal, said he would not give in.

“Let me make clear: No matter what happens, my govt will not allow any NRO as it would be betrayal of nation’s trust in holding plunderers of public wealth accountable. Musharraf gave NROs to the 2 pol ldrs which quadrupled our debt & destroyed economy. There will be no more NROs,” he said.