–PTI govt strongly opposed Shehbaz’s nomination as chairman but it eventually had to surrender to Opp’s demand
–NA Opp leader expresses gratitude to govt, Opp parties, vows to ‘take everyone along and move forward’
ISLAMABAD: Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif was elected as chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) unopposed on Friday after a months-long tussle between the government and opposition over allowing the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president to head the apex accountability body of parliament.
Following his unanimous nomination, Shehbaz expressed gratitude to the treasury and opposition parties, saying he would “take everyone along and move forward”.
“PAC is an effective forum for accountability, which needs further improvement,” Shehbaz said while appreciating Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader and former PAC chairman Khursheed Shah’s tenure.
Government and opposition lawmakers congratulated Shehbaz for becoming the chairman.
PPP leader Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said that nominating NA Opp leader as the chairman has set a good example and hoped the apex accountability body would perform well under the chairmanship of Shehbaz.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator and Leader of the House Shibli Faraz said despite all differences, both parties reached an agreement. He hoped that Shehbaz would meet nation’s expectations.
On the occasion, Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP) President Akhtar Mengal, a member of the committee, said the process of accountability should be transparent.
Shehbaz will formally convene the first meeting of the committee on December 28.
Syed Fakhar Iman, Sardar Nasrullah Khan Dreshak, Akhtar Mengal, Riaz Fatyana, Malik Amir Dogar, Munaza Hassan, Noor Alam Khan, Khawaja Sheraz Mahmood, Iqbal Muhammad Ali Khan, Ali Nawaz Shah, Hussain Ilahi, Ijaz Ahmed Shah, Raja Riaz, Mian Shehbaz Sharif, Khawaja Asif, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Rana Tanvir Hussain, Sheikh Rohail Asghar, Shahid Akhter Ali, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Syed Naveed Qamar, Syed Hussain Tariq and Hina Rabbani Khar will be members of the PAC.
It merits mention that the issue of parliamentary committees’ formation was pending since the last three months after the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) came into power because the government was against Shehbaz’s appointment as the PAC chairman.
The argument floated by the PTI government against Shehbaz was that the NA opposition leader can’t head the apex parliamentary committee as he would be auditing his brother, ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s projects, besides he was also under scrutiny for alleged corruption.
Prime Minister Imran Khan and Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry had time and again vowed to keep Shehbaz away from the PAC chairmanship. “We will not be blackmailed by the opposition,” the premier had said in a recent party meeting.
Fawad, on the other hand, continued to oppose Shehbaz even after the govt-opposition deal, accusing the opposition parties of blackmailing the government over the chairmanship. The minister wanted the PAC chairmanship for the PTI.
However, the impasse was finally resolved when the government and the opposition reached a deal last week after Imran agreed to give the post to Shehbaz.
The PML-N president is in jail facing major corruption probes pertaining to his recent term as the chief minister of Punjab.
An accountability judge recently handed Shehbaz in judicial custody in the Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing scam while he is also being investigated for his alleged involvement in several cases, including the Saaf Pani scam, Ramzan Sugar Mills case and the Punjab private companies reference.
SHEHBAZ MEETS NA SPEAKER:
In a meeting, Shehbaz Sharif and NA Speaker Asad Qaiser reached an agreement to make the parliamentary legislation effective to resolve public issues.
The NA speaker underlined the importance of cooperation between the government and opposition for the promotion of parliamentary democracy. “We have to rise above the party politics to play our due role,” he said.
The opposition leader extended his gratitude to Qaiser for issuing production orders for detained PML-N leader Khawaja Saad Rafique.
