The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government Thursday conceded the chairmanship of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif, almost three months after a stalemate over the key position. Speaking on the floor of National Assembly, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that Prime Minister Imran Khan was allowing the opposition to nominate the PAC chairman in the larger interest of democracy and parliamentary norms.
Qureshi said the government has left the decision to the opposition leader to nominate a person of his choice for the position. If, however, the opposition leader chooses to nominate himself for the role then the government would not object, he added.
The minister said that constitution of committees is a very important matter for the Parliament in order to function effectively.
He pointed out that the opposition leader was embroiled in National Accountability Bureau (NAB) cases and these cases were not filed by the incumbent government; and NAB has nothing to do with the House.
Shehbaz Sharif, speaking on the floor, welcomed the gesture by the government to leave the choice of nominating the PAC chairman with the opposition. "This step would promote democratic norms and traditions and further solidify the institution of the Parliament," he added.
Criticising the role of NAB, he said it was clear that the anti-corruption watchdog is highly selective in its accountability process, and that it would not be able to prove even a penny's corruption against him.
The consultation over the chairmanship for PAC concluded in a meeting of Defence Minister Pervez Khattak, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khanand and Chief Whip of ruling PTI Malik Mohammad Amir Dogar with opposition members in the chamber of Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif at the Parliament House.
It was decided that a sub-committee will be formed to review the audit objections on the previous Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government. The head of the sub-committee will be from the PTI government.
After the meeting, Defence Minister Parvez Khattak said while talking to parliamentary reporters that it was not a compulsion for the government to give chairmanship of PAC to Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif but it conceded to precede the business of the House.
Syed Naveed Qamar of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) said while talking to Business Recorder that it is a good decision of PTI government as it accepted the stance of opposition and the PPP welcomes it.
Other opposition members including former premier Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and MMA leader Maulana Asad Mehmood also welcomed the government's decision.
Shehbaz Sharif and former Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq urged Speaker Asad Qaisar to issue production orders of the PML-N lawmaker Khawaja Saad Rafique who is currently in custody of the NAB in a corruption case.
Members of the opposition parties later walked out of the House in a protest over alleged delay by the Speaker in issuance of Rafique's production orders.
Speaker Asad Qaisar, however, said that he is seeking legal opinion from Attorney General and Ministry of Law over the production orders of Rafique and he would announce his decision on it soon.
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