Shahbaz Sharifnotified as NA opposition leader

By Asim Yasin
August 21, 2018

ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaisar Monday declared Shahbaz Sharif as Opposition Leader in the National Assembly. The notification for appointment of Shahbaz Sharif as opposition leader in the National Assembly was issued on Monday.

PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif commands support of majority at the opposition benches in the National Assembly as all the opposition parties including Pakistan People’s Party, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal and other smaller parties in the National Assembly at the opposition benches had extended their support to Shahbaz Sharif.

It is to be mentioned here that the PPP has sent a letter to Asad Qaisar with the signature of the PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and Syed Khursheed Shah to give complete support to Shahbaz Sharif as Opposition Leader in the National Assembly.

In a letter with the signature of PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaisar through which the PPP stated that being a majority party at the opposition benches it was right of the PML-N to lead the opposition benches.

With the appointment of Shahbaz Sharif, the question buzzed in Parliament’s lobbies whether the PTI government will follow the parliamentary tradition started in 2008 to give the chairmanship of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to the opposition leader.

Though there was no rule for the appointment of Opposition leader in the National Assembly as the PAC chairman, it was being traditionally followed by the successive governments of the PPP and PML-N under the Charter of Democracy. However, the PTI government of Prime Minister Imran Khan had not made any decision whether to give the chairmanship of the PAC to the opposition leader or not or whether to any other opposition party or keep it with the treasury benches.

“The PAC has to audit the audit report of the previous government of the PML-N and it would not be appropriate if someone from the PML-N should lead the PAC,” said parliamentary analysts.