- PML-N, PPP found ‘scratching each other’s back’ with the former allegedly hiding the latter’s misuse of authority during past regime
- Govt fails to present Audit Report 2012-13 before parliament side by side with budget documents, breaches 60-year-old parliamentary traditions
- Finance Ministry instrumental in delaying report since April while Dar and Shah ‘negotiate deal’ between PML-N and PPP
Pakistan Today has learnt that the federal government is allegedly employing delay tactics in submitting this year’s audit report in the National Assembly and Senate, suggesting an “underhand deal” between the two major political parties of the country.
The move is being seen by parliamentary experts as an “open breach” of the 60-year-old tradition of the parliamentary history as traditionally, auditor general of Pakistan (AGP)’s report is laid before the houses every year along with the federal budget documents.
Experts have also termed this tactic “a cover-up measure to dodge parliamentary accountability over the extravagant spending and expenditures done by the outgoing Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) regime in the election year of 2012-13”.
The report for the year 2013-14 (financial year 2012-13) deals with the audit objections of billions of rupees pertaining to alleged misuse of authority by two prime ministers of the former PPP regime – Yousaf Raza Gilani and Raja Pervez Ashraf.
Both the politicians have been accused of diverting funds from other important projects towards the mega development projects in Multan and Gujar Khan in violation of rules.
AUDIT REPORT STUCK IN PM HOUSE:
Sources in the federal government told Pakistan Today that the Finance Ministry and Prime Minister’s House had allegedly adopted delay tactics in presentation of the report on special instructions from Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar.
“Although the audit report for audit year 2013-14 had been received by the Finance Ministry from the AGP office in April this year, the same was not forwarded to the Prime Minister’s Office till mid-May,” sources said.
Later on, after a delay of approximately more than two weeks, the Prime Minister’s Office forwarded the audit report to the president for his formal assent, sources said.
A source added that although the president had returned the audit report after his assent in the beginning of June, the report had yet not reached the Finance Ministry, being withheld in the Prime Minister’s House for the last three weeks.
EXCHANGING FAVOURS:
A source in the PPP said that there was “complete harmony and understanding” between the top leaderships of the PPP and the PML-N and Senator Ishaq Dar had given assurance to the PPP leadership to “protect” their party’s wrongdoings.
“After mudslinging of two decades, the leaderships of both the parties [PPP and PML-N] have reached an understanding to support and protect each other. We believe in not pulling each other’s legs as this negative trend has harmed both the parties in the past,” the PPP leader added.
The PPP stalwart said that Dar and NA Opposition Leader Khurshid Shah, from the government and PPP’s sides respectively, were negotiating in this regard.
“Due to the same understanding, the PPP leadership has fully backed the PML-N government during its tiff with the army leadership. We will keep supporting the ruling party if they would keep protecting our interests,” the PPP leader maintained.
NOTHING WRONG WITH IT:
Commenting on the delay in submission of audit report, Finance Ministry Media GM Nadeem Kayani told this scribe that laying the audit report before the Parliament along with budget documents was not mandatory for the government but was on the discretion of the government. Kayani said that he had also confirmed the same from Rana Asad Amin, the advisor to the ministry.
When Pakistan Today asked Kayani as to when the ministry was planning to present the report before the parliamentarians, the Finance Ministry’s Media GM promised to respond soon.
However, no response was received despite a lapse of 24 hours, while Kayani’s telephone remained switched off Saturday.
PTI CONCERNED OVER REPORT’S DELAY:
Moreover, while talking to Pakistan Today, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s MNA Shafqat Mahmood, who is also a member of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), expressed his concerns over the inordinate delay in submission of the audit report before the legislature, stating that he was wondering why the breach of the parliamentary traditions was being committed.
“I wonder why the audit report is not being laid before the House if the AGP office has sent it to the Finance Ministry in April last. It raises serious questions on the PML-N government’s commitment towards the accountability of the previous government. It further raises the possibility of a silent complicity between the PPP and PML-N leaderships to support each others’ wrongdoings,” he maintained.
The PTI leader said that the parliamentary traditions should be upheld and the audit report must be laid before the House as soon as possible so as the parliamentarians and the PAC could do scrutiny of funds spent during year 2012-13.
