Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah is likely to head the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), it is learnt. The Opposition Leader is not a member of the PAC, however, the Speaker of the National Assembly has the power to change any member of the Committee at any time.
According to well-placed sources in the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government is urging the PPP to purpose the name of Leader of the Opposition as chairman of PAC in continuation of the tradition set by the former PPP-led coalition government and as agreed between the two major parties under the Charter of Democracy (CoD). In the event that the PPP fails to nominate the Leader of the Opposition as Chairman PAC then the PML-N, which has the required numbers, reserves the right to elect its own member as head of the Committee. Discussions in this regard are ongoing within the PPP. The PML-N has 11 members while the PPP has only three members in the PAC.
The sources revealed that when the PPP consulted with the leadership of other opposition parties including Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q), they also supported the name of Opposition Leader Syed Khurshid Shah for PAC Chairman.
Earlier, the PPP had reportedly decided within its ranks to propose the name of Dr Azra Afzal Pucheho as chair of the PAC. According to sources, the Speaker of the National Assembly is likely to call the first meeting of PAC in the first week of December for election of its Chairperson. Soon after electing its Chairperson, meetings of the PAC would be held to review the audit objections made against Pakistan People's Party's government.
The consultation process within the members of PAC has started for the selection of new chair PAC. "If we follow the tradition and accountability laws of India and UK, the head of audit committee must be from the opposition parties, however it is not mandatory in the rules and regulations of parliament," former PAC Member Yasmeen Rehman said. Constitutional bodies, certain ministries and divisions have already been issued directives to hold meetings of Departmental Accounts Committee (DAC) regularly to compile the audit report prior to the first meeting of the PAC.
The PAC Secretariat has shown serious concerns over the non-serious attitude of various ministries and divisions over compliance with the earlier directives of the PAC and issued notices to them. In notices, the PAC Secretariat has also indicated the convening of a PAC in the first week of December. The notification has been dispatched to various ministries and government departments which failed to comply with the directives taken in the previous meetings of PAC.