Team News Riveting
The opposition-dominated upper house in Pakistan recently voted down two bills related to money laundering and terror financing tabled by the ruling Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI).
The move had come as a big blow for the Prime Minister, Imran Khan as he was pulling all the strings to drop out Pakistan from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list of countries tagged as prone to illicit financial activity, and reaffirm perceptions that the country protect terror groups, their leaders and their financial activities.
The FATF is a Paris-based intergovernmental global watchdog that sets international standards for combating money laundering and terror financing. For the countries like Pakistan which are dependent on international lending and investment, FATF blacklisting had been a big jolt.
Institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Asia Development Bank (ADB) take extra caution when dealing with nations on the FATF’s blacklist while the ratings agencies tend to downgrade FATF-designated nations.
The Opposition political parties namely Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) advocated that the legislation aimed more at tightening the screws on Khan’s political opponents than meeting the FATF’s requirements.
It alleged that Khan’s PTI seeks to gain sweeping powers to arrest anyone suspected of money laundering could be detained without trial for up to 90 days without producing any substantiating evidence in court. The term of imprisonment, they say, could be extended for a further 90 days if authorities deem fit under the proposed legislation.
Soon after the Senate shot down the FATF-related bills, Khan tweeted that the “self-serving interests of the opposition leaders” are at odds with Pakistan’s national interests.
Seeking to wriggle out of the FATF’s grey list, Pakistan has imposed tough financial sanctions on 88 banned terror groups and their leaders, including Hafiz Saeed, Masood Azhar and Dawood Ibrahim, by ordering the seizure of all of their properties and freezing of bank accounts
