ISLAMABAD - Pakistan People’s Party leader Senator Sherry Rehman yesterday said the government had to include the PPP’s amendments in the Financial Action Task Force related legislation.

Speaking to journalists, Parliamentary Leader of the PPP, Senator Sherry Rehman cleared the air over government’s claims. “The bone of contention was not NAB but FATF. We made sure that our proposed amendments in the FATF legislation by the 24 members of the notified committee were included. We did not let them bulldoze it without amendments,” she said.

She added: “They were trying to move these bills without our amendments and that is why Senate majorities had to be summoned, so they see we have the numbers and send the bill back to committee.”

The federal government, she said, admitted that the amendments were much needed and that we are right. We have seen the FATF requirements and they do.  Pakistan’s parliament is here to ensure the protection of its citizen rights,” she added.

Speaking on the NRO allegations, she said:  “We are not scared of NAB and they can keep it to themselves. We have all faced it and will do it in the future too but we will never ask for an NRO. They might need it, not us. We have not asked for any concession from the government. They came to us. We did not go to them”.

Pakistan, she said, was in FATF’s grey list and “PPP’s government managed to remove it from the list unlike the entire hullabaloo which this government is creating.”

“Then President Asif Ali Zardari made it clear that we do not need their NRO. He served a prison sentence for eleven years, he does not need it,” she added while highlighting PPP’s role. Parliamentary Leader of the PPP, Senator Sherry Rehman concluded by saying, “They have misused the Parliament so much and have not safeguarded Pakistan. This country should be run through the Parliament and not executive orders. This is not a presidential system and we will not even let Pakistan become that”.