The Senate on Thursday unanimously amended rules paving way for nominating six senators, three each from treasury and opposition benches, to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the parliament.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar has said that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government will support inclusion of members of Senate in the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the National Assembly.
The motion to amend the rules and nominate six senators to PAC was moved by leader of the House Raja Zafarul Haq.
The motion was unanimously adopted by the House paving way for Senators to become members of the PAC.
Raja Zafarul Haq congratulated the House for resolving the long standing demands of the senators amicably. He said that this is a historic day in the parliamentary history of the country and it would not only bring both the houses closer to each other but also help strengthen the democratic system.
He said that now six senators, three each from opposition and treasury benches including one each from Islamabad and FATA will be a part of the PAC.
‘BECAUSE TWO WOULD BE TOO MUCH’:
Earlier, while giving policy statement, Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Ishaq Dar apprised the Senate that inclusion of senators in the PAC was a difficult task but it had been completed successfully.
He said that many efforts were made to include senators in the committee as no one was ready to entertain this idea. The minister said he personally contacted the National Assembly speaker, Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Khurshid Shah and all the parliamentary leaders to talk about the subject and to convince them.
He said no system could afford two PACs as this would create complications. Even in UK, Canada and others countries, the system of separate PACs does not exist, he said.
Dar said it was necessary to have a single PAC of the parliament which also has representation from the Senate in the larger national interest.
The finance minister suggested that the Senate chairman may select the six members in consultation with Parliamentary leaders, keeping in view the proportionate strength of political parties in the house and the House may elect those six members through due process as per Rules of Business and Procedure of the Senate.
He said he had been given two weeks to make this happen had been successful.
He said rules of both houses will be changed to include six senators in the PAC. He said every province will have representation in the Senate committee in addition to one member each from the federal capital and FATA. Moreover, out of the six senators, three each will be from the government and opposition benches, he added.
He said that draft rules have also been prepared. New rules will also be introduced in the National Assembly session commencing on August 1, he said.
It may be recalled, that the proposal for representation of Senate in the PAC has been under debate for almost a year. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s incumbent government has decided to honour the proposal of the Senate for inclusion of its members in the PAC. The Senate passed the necessary amendments in its rules on Thursday, in order to give effect to the change which will be finalised once corresponding amendment is made by the National Assembly in its Rules in the coming session.
