Opposition hardens stance on PAC chair

NA speaker holds meeting to end deadlock over issue

ISLAMABAD: Opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif in a meeting with NA Speaker Asad Qaiser. PHOTO: INP

The Opposition on Tuesday hardened its stance on the issue of chairmanship of all-powerful Public Accounts Committee (PAC) as National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser struggled to kick-start house business.

He held back-to-back meetings with the treasury and opposition in an effort to end a deadlock over the issue and start the process of formation of house committees.

The opposition had threatened to boycott all the committees if the ruling party did not offer the PAC chairmanship to Opposition Leader Shahbaz Sharif as per the “parliamentary traditions”.

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) is unwilling to give the PAC chairmanship to Shahbaz, saying that it could not allow him to review the projects that had been initiated and executed by the government of his elder brother Nawaz Sharif.

The inordinate delay in the formation of the committees has started to affect functioning of parliament, which has almost become dysfunctional as far as the legislative work is concerned. With the present government already completing its 100 days in the office, the NA has been able to only pass the Finance (Supplementary) Bill.

On Tuesday, the combined opposition reaffirmed their demand that the PAC chair should be given to PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif.

Speaking to the media after a meeting of the joint opposition leadership, Shehbaz said the opposition parties had once again concluded that the opposition leader should become the PAC chairman, "which has been the tradition for the past 10 years".

Shahbaz said the opposition parties had devised an alternate to avoid the possible conflict of interest: He (Shehbaz) can be nominated as the PAC chairman, but he will not head meetings in which audit paras of the previous PML-N government are scrutinised.

Instead, a sub-committee can be formed to examine matters related to the previous administration, and the PTI can nominate its own chairman for the sub-committee, Shehbaz added.

"[But] the opposition has made it clear that the PAC chairman will be the opposition leader," the PML-N president said, adding that he was thankful to the opposition parties for reposing their confidence in him through their "rightful stand".

Meanwhile, the NA speaker expressed the resolve to end the differences between the treasury and opposition benches for effective and early legislation.

“Legislation is the only way to resolve problems of people,” he said while speaking at a meeting with the treasury.

Qaisar said removal of all obstacles in the formation of National Assembly standing committees was his top priority, which “hopefully, will be done during the current session”.

The government representatives, who attended the meeting, included Defense Minister Pervez Khattak, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Minister for Law Farogh Nasim, Minister for Kashmir Affairs Ali Amin Gandapur, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan, Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri and Chief Whip Muhammad Amir Dogar.