Election funds: NA committee chief criticizes Ishaq Dar over no-show

ISLAMABAD: National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee on Finance Chairman Qaiser Shaikh criticized his party’s Finance Minister Ishaq Dar for skipping the meeting summoned to discuss election funds, ARY News reported on Thursday.

According to details, the meeting of the National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee on Finance was held with Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh in the chair. The meeting discussed the issue of giving funds to the Election Commission of Pakistan for the elections in Punjab and KP. However, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar did not participate in this important meeting on which the chairman of the committee lashed out at his own party’s finance minister.

Qaiser Sheikh said that Finance Minister Ishaq Dar is not serious about the economic affairs of the country. The presidents of the National Bank and the Agricultural Development Bank have been absent for a year from the committee, he added.

Read more: NA committee rejects bill seeking funds for Punjab, KP elections

He said that the government bill should not be passed unless the finance minister attends the meeting. The chairman also said that if Ishaq Dar does not appear in the standing committee, he will resign from its chairmanship.

It should be noted that the Standing Committee on Finance of the National Assembly rejected the bill to fund the Election Commission of Pakistan. The committee unanimously rejected the bill to provide additional funds to the Election Commission for elections in Punjab and KP.