ISLAMABAD – Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) central leader Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada on Sunday said that instead of establishing proposed national accountability commission, the incumbent Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly should be converted into Public Accounts and Accountability Committee to uproot the menace of corruption from the country.
“As the parliament is supreme, the creation of the Public Accounts and Accountability Committee (PAAC) would not only ensure the supremacy of the parliament but will also enable public representatives to hold more transparent accountability than other non-elected men,” he said in an exclusive interview with Pakistan Today.
He said that there should be no apprehension regarding impartiality of his proposed PAAC as it would have representation from all parliamentary parties like the existing PAC. Pirzada said that accountability watchdogs in the past used to victimize people for vested political interests.
Riaz Pirzada, who also heads Special Public Accounts Committee III, said that his last 3-year working in PAC had taught him about the reasons that landed Pakistan into present-day crisis. “Unfortunately, there are no rules that allow the confiscation of assets of plunderers of national wealth,” he said.
Riaz Pirzada, who hails from Bahawalpur, admitted candidly that Southern Punjab was the breeding area for terrorists. “There are hatcheries of terrorists in the Southern Punjab and it was the area from which a number of terrorists emerged many years back and spread across the country…some Arabian states are funding particular religious school of thought and the Punjab government exhibits reluctance to avoid annoyance of Arab Sheikhs,” he added.
Talking on ongoing power-sharing parleys between the PPP and the PML-Q, Riaz Pirzada said the negotiations between various political parties had always been a democratic norm. “In a situation when no party has the majority in the house, such negotiations between ruling party and others continue for the sake of stable government and good governance…… Alliances make and break …Today Pakistan needs the politics of reconciliation, talks and compromises so that it can confront multi- dimensional challenges and defeat the monster of terrorism and overcome economic downturn,” he added.
He said backdoor channels were operating between the PPP and the PML-Q “but the final decision has not been taken yet” Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada said the PML-Q would waste no time in announcing joining PPP-led coalition government once negotiations between two parties proved successful.
Pirzada, criticized self-styled leaders of Bahawalpur Province Movement saying: “Some leaders are creating confusion that can push the country into further chaos….. Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s recent statement on Seraiki province also lacks sincerity….. If he is sincere, he must first remove the sense of deprivation of the dwellers of the region instead of making false pledges which are unlikely to materialise,” he said.
He said the issue of creating more provinces needed a serious debate in the parliament and if all parties agreed, not only Bahawalpur or Seraiki but many provinces be made in the country simultaneously to avert uprisings in various pockets of the state.
The PML-Q leader supported the idea of imposing agriculture tax and said that the agriculturists had always been paying such taxes therefore it was no new phenomenon for them. “In the existing economic crisis, tough decision would have be taken by the government and the PML-Q will support every judicious economic reforms package,” he said but did not clarify whether his party could support RGST bill or not in the future.
On drone attacks, Pirzada said that continued drone attacks by US exhibited helplessness of Pakistani authorities. Demanding of the provincial governments to hold local government elections without any delay, Pirzada proposed that the tenure of local government should be trimmed to two years to make them efficient.
He also said that all development funds should be used by the local bodies/governments and members of the national assembly must not indulged into matters pertaining to development as their duty was just framing policies and doing legislation.
On a question about MQM’s efforts of making inroads in Punjab, he said the MQM could only attract one community in the province. “MQM is recognized as the representative party of Mohajirs and can only win the support of Mohajir community in Punjab,” he claimed. The PML-Q chief whip in the National Assembly said that the government should complete its tenure for the betterment of system.
“If the political parties want to provide strong base to existing democratic order, they should assist government in completing its constitutional tenure……. Various political leaders like Ch Shujaat Hussain, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao are mindful of this reality and are hence playing the role of sensible opposition,” he added.
