Guessing game begins as Shehbaz quits PAC chair

Rana Tanveer to replace PML-N president at parliament’s accountability forum

ISLAMABAD: In a surprise move, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday decided to abandon chairmanship of the parliament’s key accountability forum, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

The decision was made after Shehbaz, who is also the National Assembly’s leader of opposition, held consultations with the PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif, who is serving seven-year prison term after his conviction in December 2018 in a graft case and is currently on bail on medical grounds.

Later, the party, which is the biggest opposition group in the parliament, announced to nominate MNA Rana Tanveer Hussain as the new PAC chairman.

Two days back, reports had surfaced that the PML-N planned to replace Rana Tanveer with former foreign minister Khawaja Asif as the PML-N’s new parliamentary leader.

Shehbaz was elected as PAC chairman in December 2018, after a four-month-long tussle between the treasury and opposition benches over the committee chairmanship. Earlier on October 5, 2018 Shehbaz was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in connection with a housing scandal.

NAB later nominated the PML-N president in two more corruption references before his release from the accountability watchdog’s custody on order of the Lahore High Court on February 14.
Citing clash of interest, the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan did not want Shehbaz to head the PAC, the most powerful body of the parliament that makes decisions on the audit reports finalised by the department of the Auditor General of Pakistan.

However, the opposition parties, showing unusual unity had refused to break the parliamentary norm of appointing the leader of opposition as the PAC chairman.

Later, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government had conceded to the opposition’s pressure but on the condition that special panels probing expenditures from the former PML-N government’s era would be headed by a member from the treasury bench.

Commenting on the PML-N’s decision, the Federal Minister for Communication Murad Saeed said the opposition parties had earlier threatened to stop the parliamentary business just to get Shehbaz elected as the PAC chairman.

“However, now he [Shehbaz] is running away after emergence of more corruption scandals. The PAC will audit corruption cases of previous government as the nation has vowed to carry on the ongoing accountability drive,” he said.

Rana Tanveer, who is going to be the new PAC chief, is an MNA elected from NA-120, Sheikhupura-II constituency. He has previously served as Minister for Defence Production and Minister for Science and Technology. The PML-N leader has also worked as parliamentary secretary to finance ministry and PM.