Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Rana Sanaullah has said that Opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif has not resigned from the chairmanship of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and the parliamentary party of PML-N has given this proposal so far.
"Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi himself assumed the resignation of Shahbaz Sharif from the PAC chairmanship. Did Shah Mehmood Qureshi talk on phone with Sharif on this issue?" Rana Sanaullha expressed these views on Monday on the floor of the National Assembly while responding to the foreign minister. He said, "Mr. Speaker, did you receive resignation of Shahbaz Sharif from the chairmanship of PAC?"
Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser said that he has not received any resignation so far. Sanaullah said that parliamentary party in its meeting requested the leadership to resign from the PAC slot due to health issues. However, he said that party leadership would take final decision after consultation with other opposition parties including Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and treasury members of PAC.
Earlier, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said procedure for constituting of National Assembly standing committees had been delayed due to demands of opposition for making leader of opposition as chairman PAC. Now, the opposition leader has nominated Rana Tanveer without consultation with opposition parties and the government members.
"Shehbaz Sharif himself changed the chairmanship of the PAC. The PAC chairmanship is not any inheritance. We are also part of PAC. The PPP supported the opposition leader as chairman of PAC under the sprit of Charter of Democracy (CoD)," he said.
"We were not taken into confidence for changing the PAC chairmanship. We will not accept this decision," said the minister. He said that Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is an important body in Parliament and sudden reshuffling of its leadership will impact parliamentary proceedings.
The foreign minister questioned how Rana Tanveer Hussain could head the PAC when it is already decided that leader of the opposition in the National Assembly will take up this position. Earlier, during Question Hour, Minister for Defence Pervez Khattak proposed to constitute a parliamentary committee by including the opposition members to give recommendations to curb theft of electricity. He said that he requests the opposition to play role in the committee to stop the theft of electricity in the country.