Deadlock on PAC chairmanship issue affects legislation

ISLAMABAD: Deadlock between the government and opposition on the chairmanship of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has paused the process of the constitution of standing committees and legislation process in the National Assembly.

As the PTI government is about to complete its first 100 days in the power, it has only managed to get passed a piece of legislation that was Finance Supplementary (Amendment) Act 2018.

Since August 13, five sessions of the National Assembly have been held so far, but no progress has been made on the issue of standing committees.

The issue of chairmanship of the PAC was become a bone of contention as neither the government nor the opposition was ready to show any flexibility. Prime Minister Imran Khan and his government have already made it clear that Opposition Leader Shahbaz Sharif will not be appointed to head the PAC to audit the accounts of PML-N government.

Though the government had informally offered the PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to become chairman of the PAC but he refused, saying that he would not deviate from the parliamentary practice which was initiated during the PPP government as per Charter of Democracy signed between the PPP and PML-N in 2006.

Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaisar also made all out efforts to break the deadlock between the government and opposition to reach on any understanding, but he did not succeed.

In an interview with The News two months back, Asad Qaisar said he will follow the past practices of the Parliament to give the chairmanship of the PAC to the opposition leader, but hawks in the cabinet of the Prime Minister Imran Khan resisted it with the view that how Shahbaz Sharif could audit the accounts of the government his elder brother Nawaz Sharif.

The government has offered the opposition to appoint any non-controversial person to head the committee, but the PML-N did not accept the proposal.

The opposition is on the same page on the issue of chairmanship of the PAC and has told the government in clear words that if the parliamentary practice was not followed then they will not give their names for the standing committees.

Even during high political polarisation in decades of 80’s and 90’s as well in the National Assembly of 2002, the standing committees were formed usually in the first or second regular sessions of the National Assembly, but it is first time that these committees haven’t been three months.

However, despite disagreement on the chairmanship of the PAC, the government and opposition have at least agreed on forming parliamentary committee to probe irregularities in the general elections with members from both the houses of the Parliament which has started it proceedings to formulate the terms of reference (ToRs).