MULTAN: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has asserted that the federal government and opposition members will discuss draft laws concerning the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) action plan and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Monday.
Addressing a press conference in Multan today (Saturday), the foreign minister informed that eight bills aimed at getting Pakistan removed from the FATF ‘grey list’, and one about NAB has been shared with opposition.
He further said that India had been attempting to push Pakistan into the FATF blacklist and if this were to happen, the effects for the country’s economy would be devastating. “The government wants to avoid such a situation and has therefore taken timely administrative and legislative steps to get Pakistan removed from the grey list and be included in the white list,” he added.
FM Qureshi said, “In this regard, eight bills have been prepared after consultation with the law ministry, finance ministry, Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU), and experts dealing with money laundering and counter-terrorism issues.
He also said that the opposition has been taken into confidence on the directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan. A 24-member joint committee has been formed which includes various factions of the opposition as well as representatives of the government. The committee will review the legislation,” he remarked.
The Foreign Minister said that Pakistan has to present the practical steps it has taken before the Asia-Pacific Group, which after examining them will submit a report to the FATF plenary. “The plenary will then decide whether the obligations Pakistan was subjected to were fulfilled or not,” he added.
FM Qureshi said that one law pertaining to the National Accountability Bureau has also been drafted. “The opposition has expressed its reservations about the NAB law,” he added.
“We are prepared to make changes in the NAB law but the PPP and PML-N did not improve the accountability law during their respective five-year tenures,” he concluded.
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