The PAC chairmanship

Parliamentary tradition demands that the chairmanship of the Public Accounts Committee to go to the opposition

Not a constitutional requirement though, parliamentary tradition demands that the chairmanship of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) go to the opposition. It’s a matter of principle too, in the context of monitoring. Since the apex parliamentary watchdog — comprising members from both houses of parliament — is mandated to oversee the audit of revenue and expenditure by the government, a treasury member at the helm cannot satisfy the principle of transparency and justice. That way, the chairmanship of the most powerful and important committee of parliament is a moral, traditional and legitimate right of the opposition.

The government of the day, however, has a point as it seeks to break away from the parliamentary tradition of the opposition heading the public accounts watchdog. The PAC plate is mostly filled with the projects undertaken by the PML-N during their previous tenure in the government. The party has now assumed the role of opposition and must be pleased to see one of its very own leaders having a weighty say — if not a final one — on the matter of its own parliamentary accountability. Hence, to the government, deputing the PML-N to audit the projects undertaken during its own tenure is like entrusting the sheep to the wolf.

Initially, the government was adamant on assigning the PAC chairmanship to one of its own men. In a softening of the stance, it has now reportedly agreed to accept an opposition member other than Shehbaz Sharif or any of his ‘hawkish’ party men on the powerful position. However, the PML-N has made it clear that it will not accept anybody else than Shehbaz Sharif and has even hinted at a boycott of all parliamentary committees. While the government waits for Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi to return from abroad and offer his vital opinion in the context, as of now the two sides appear to be heading for a stalemate.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 2^nd, 2018.

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