Government ready to give PAC chairmanship to Shehbaz Sharif

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has finally conceded the Opposition’s nomination of Shehbaz Sharif as the chairman of the all-powerful Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

According to details, the government and the opposition reached a consensus on Thursday to let the Leader of Opposition, Shehbaz Sharif, to chair the Public Accounts Committee.

Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi apprised the House earlier today that Prime Minister Imran Khan has given a nod to the opposition’s nomination for the PAC chairman in the bigger interest of democracy and parliamentary norms.

FM Qureshi announced that the government was leaving the decision to the opposition leader to propose a name as per his choice for the coveted position. “If, however, the opposition leader chose to nominate himself for the role then the government would not object on it,” the foreign minister added.

As the assembly session concluded, Federal Minister for Defence Pervaiz Khattak and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Mohammad Khan met with Shehbaz Sharif in his chamber.

Following the highly significant meeting, it emerged that the government was ready to let Shehbaz chair the committee, while a subcommittee would be constituted comprising PTI parliamentarians.

Moreover, Khattak confirmed the development saying it was taken in the best interest to have the uninterrupted functioning of the Lower House.

It is pertinent to mention here that in previous political setups of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), a parliamentary tradition was set to allow the opposition to hold the top position of the PAC.

Nevertheless, the PTI government had been severely reluctant in past to consent Shehbaz’s name owing to ongoing corruption investigations against him by the National Accountability Bureau.

Few days earlier, the ruling party had decided to make a fresh contact with the opposition parties to break the deadlock over the issue of nomination of chairmanship of the PAC.