–NA speaker rejects Shehbaz’s recommendation of nominating Saad Rafique for PAC membership
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad asked Opposition Leader in the National Assembly (NA) Shehbaz Sharif to stay calm as he does not intend to ‘misbehave’ or ‘fight’ with anyone after his inclusion in the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
In a press conference on Thursday, Rasheed underscored that he was the most senior parliamentarian of Pakistan and after consultations, he learned that a minister can become a member of the PAC and “Prime Minister Imran Khan has nominated me in the place of Riaz Fatyana.”
“There will be two PAC – one of Shehbaz and other would be of Sheikh Rasheed,” the minister remarked, assuring the opposition leader of the National Assembly (NA) that he was not coming to the PAC with any ‘malicious intent’ to misbehave or fight.
“I will play my constitutional role in the PAC,” the minister vehemently said.
Criticising the issuance of the production order for the detained PAC chairman every now and then, Rasheed recounted “My production order was not even issued when my mother passed away.”
He further noted that it was unlawful to issue production order for someone who is under remand.
Last week, Rasheed said that the government’s decision to appoint Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif as the chairman of the PAC was a blunder.
The minister claimed that “those involved in committing the mother of all crimes have been appointed to hold others accountable”. He added that there were no moral grounds for appointing Shehbaz.
Meanwhile, NA Speaker Asad Qaisar turned down Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif’s recommendation to nominate PML-N leader Khawaja Saad Rafique as a member of PAC.
The PML-N, earlier, decided to nominate the former railway minister as a PAC member in view of giving him maximum relief by getting his production order for the meetings.
Rafique and his brother Salman Rafique are in the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) custody in the Paragon Housing scam. The PML-N leader and his brother were arrested after the Lahore High Court (LHC) rejected their request for an extension in their pre-arrest bail in the case pertaining to the housing society scam. “The court’s decision confirmed substantive evidence against NAB suspects,” the accountability watchdog spokesperson said.
The speaker was of the view that Rafique’s nomination in the PAC merely for giving him relief from NAB is unjustified, and would not give a good message.
