ISLAMABAD: Pakistani law minister Farogh Naseem has said the country had done “everything” to be removed from a Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list and Pakistan’s case would now serve as a test of the “fairness” of the global financial watchdog.
Pakistan was placed on FATF’s grey list of countries in 2018 for inadequate terror funding and money laundering controls.
In June this year, FATF President Marcus Pleyer said Islamabad had made “significant progress” but there remained “serious deficiencies” in mechanisms to plug money laundering and terrorism financing.
The country was also handed another seven-point action plan to be implemented along with the original 27 points to exit the grey list.
Speaking to an international media outlet in comments published on Tuesday, Naseem said Pakistan had met 26 out of the 27 action points and now the country was “actually a test of FATF’s fairness.”
“The FATF people are good people. I'm not being critical against them,” the law minister said. “But as long as these (FATF) standards are universally applied, and not applied to only Pakistan, and as long as there is no international politics, then we welcome FATF. Let it be applied to everyone.”
Following the June review, Pakistan said it was committed to complying with the FATF evaluation process.
“It was also noted by FATF member countries that Pakistan is subject to perhaps the most challenging and comprehensive action plan ever given to any country,” Pakistani federal minister Hammad Azhar wrote on Twitter.
Azhar, who was then leading Pakistan’s effort to implement the FATF roadmap, said the country was “subject to dual evaluation processes of FATF with differing time lines.”
Last year, Azhar said FATF had acknowledged that any blacklisting, meaning further downgrading of the country’s status, was off the table now.
But Pleyer said in June the risk of Pakistan being put on the blacklist had not gone, and the country must continue to work on outstanding action points to fix its financial monitoring mechanisms.
Pakistan says done ‘everything’ to get off grey list, now test of FATF ‘fairness’
https://arab.news/5ryfv
Pakistan says done ‘everything’ to get off grey list, now test of FATF ‘fairness’
- Law minister says Pakistan has largely addressed 26 out of 27 items on a 2018 action plan by FATF
- Pakistan placed on grey list of countries in 2018 over inadequate money laundering, terror funding controls
Imran Khan’s party seeks ‘confidence-building measures’ after government’s talks offer
- PTI says access to jailed founding leader essential for talks to be considered credible
- Government says it’s ready for dialogue but nothing will happen until Khan favors the idea
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s party said on Saturday it would only consider the government’s offer for talks credible if it is accompanied by “concrete confidence-building measures,” such as unhindered access to its founding leader in a high-security prison in Rawalpindi.
Last month, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the government was fully prepared to hold a dialogue with Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party to address political polarization that has deepened since the downfall of the PTI administration in a parliamentary no-confidence vote in 2022.
PTI has frequently complained about a state crackdown against its top leadership, including Khan and his wife, who are serving prison sentences in multiple cases ranging from corruption charges to inciting violence against state institutions and attacks on government properties.
Sharif’s offer for talks came amid media reports that PTI wanted a dialogue with the government, though he noted that negotiations would not be allowed to proceed on the basis of “blackmailing” or unlawful demands and would only cater to legitimate issues.
“Announcements of talks, without concrete confidence-building measures, cannot be treated as credible progress,” Azhar Leghari, PTI’s central deputy information secretary, told Arab News.
He recalled that Khan had authorized Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Allama Raja Nasir Abbas to carry forward with the dialogue process, adding that talks “require trust, and trust cannot be built at the cost of constitutional rights or democratic legitimacy.”
“For dialogue to be meaningful, it is essential that these authorized representatives are allowed regular and unhindered access to Imran Khan so that any engagement accurately reflects his views and PTI’s collective position,” he added.
Khan’s family, party and legal team have complained in the past they are stopped by the authorities from meeting the ex-PM in prison. Last month, they also raised concerns about his health, prompting the officials to allow one of his sisters to meet him, who said he was fine.
Shortly thereafter, a scathing message was posted on his social media account, criticizing the army chief. Khan’s post elicited a bitter response from the government and the military amid accusations of inciting people against state institutions.
Leghari’s comments came only a day after Rana Sanaullah, adviser to Prime Minister Sharif on political affairs, said PTI’s “second- or third-tier leadership” wanted dialogue, but nothing was going to happen until Khan favored these negotiations.
He also maintained that while the government was ready for talks, “uncertainty and delays from PTI are preventing progress.”
Meanwhile, a newly formed National Dialogue Committee of former PTI leaders told Arab News it had organized a session on Wednesday, January 7, in the federal capital that will bring together all major political parties, journalists, lawyers and representatives of civil society.
“Our goal is to bring political leaders together so that, while discussing their own issues, they can collectively seek solutions to the nation’s challenges,” Mahmood Baqi Moulvi, a Pakistani politician and member of the committee, said.
“The initiative also builds on previous efforts, including a letter to the prime minister requesting confidence-building measures to enable talks with PTI,” he added.
The National Dialogue Committee had urged the government in the letter to grant parole to jailed party figures in Lahore, including former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Dr. Yasmin Rashid, describing the move as vital for building trust ahead of negotiations.
It had also maintained such a step “would not only create an extremely positive, conducive, and trust-filled environment for the negotiations but would also lay a strong foundation for restoring mutual confidence among all stakeholders.”
While the government has also offered dialogue in the past, PTI leaders have conditioned participation on substantive measures, including what they describe as an end to politically motivated prosecutions and arrests, restoration of fundamental rights, respect for judicial independence and a credible roadmap toward free and fair elections.
“Reconciliation is possible, but it must be based on correcting injustices rather than managing optics,” Leghari said. “A genuine reset requires restoring respect for the Constitution, ending political victimization and allowing democratic processes to function without interference.”
Rana Sanaullah and Deputy Law Minister Barrister Aqeel Malik did not respond to requests for comment.
