Imran Khan led government takes wise decision to give PAC chairmanship to leader of opposition
ISLAMABAD (13th December, 2018): Imran Khan led government today took wise decision to give the Chairmanship of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to the leader of opposition. The position of the leader of opposition of the National Assembly of Pakistan currently is held by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) President Shahbaz Sharif.
The Imran Khan led government had for about last three months resisted handing over of the PAC Chairmanship to the leader of opposition due to Shahbaz Sharif being the leader of opposition.
Imran Khan and PTI had been pointing out various corruption cases of the Sharif Brothers and their family and had been contesting that PAC will have to audit the past government projects and the opposition leader if appointed PAC Chairman since being part and parcel of past government will not let independent audit of their past projects and alleged corrupt practices.
But today in a surprising move foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi announced in the National Assembly that Prime Minister Imran Khan has decided to not stand in Leader of the Opposition Shahbaz Sharif’s way, if he wants to head the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
“We met Prime Minister Imran Khan today on the issue of PAC chairmanship,” Foreign Minister Qureshi said. “We had offered the opposition to nominate any person other than Shahbaz Sharif but they did not budge.
“Imran Khan has reviewed his decision and if Shahbaz Sharif wants to head the PAC, the government will not obstruct.
“In the larger interest of democracy and in order to make the parliament functional, we concede to the opposition’s demand.”
It was decided in the meeting that Shahbaz Sharif will chair the committee, while a subcommittee would be constituted comprising of PTI parliamentarians to take up audit paras relating to the PML-N government and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s tenure.
The constitution of House committees was a very important matter for the parliament in order to function effectively, Foreign Minister Qureshi said.
Shahbaz Sharif, speaking on the floor, welcomed the gesture by the government to leave the choice of nominating PAC chairman with the opposition. This step would promote democratic norms and traditions and further solidify the institution of parliament, he said.
Criticising the role of National Accountability Bureau, the PML-N President said it was clear that NAB was highly selective in its accountability process, and that it would not be able to prove even a penny’s worth of corruption against him.