Parliament passes FATF-related bills amid opposition’s protest

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan said that his government could make any compromise with the opposition for country and democracy, but never on corruption.

“We told them that it is in Pakistan’s interest…(Having witnessed) the way they negotiated (to support the legislation), it is my conviction that their interests and those of Pakistan are opposed. They have nothing to do with Pakistan’s interest. They tried to blackmail us to protect their interest,” the prime minister said addressing the Joint Sitting of the Parliament on Wednesday.

The joint sitting was convened mainly to make the legislation prerequisite for Pakistan’s removal from the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list, which, the prime minister said, was also essential to curb money laundering.

As the House passed the much-awaited legislation, the opposition benches walked out of the session after their amendments to the proposed bills were rejected by the majority voice vote amidst desk thumping by the ruling benches.

The prime minister thanked his party and the allies for supporting the legislation believing that moving Pakistan to the FATF blacklist could make it face financial sanctions to ultimately beget inflation and thus poverty.