ISLAMABAD, Nov 26: Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah is set to become chairman of the powerful Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the legislature after getting the nod from the leadership of his Pakistan Peoples Party.
Senator Farhatullah Khan Babar, a spokesman for PPP co-chairman and former president Asif Ali Zardari, confirmed that the party leadership had given a go-ahead to Mr Shah to accept the government’s offer to head the PAC.
“Yes, the party has nominated Khurshid Shah Sahab for the office of the chairman of the PAC,” Mr Babar said.
Meanwhile, a source close to the opposition leader said that Mr Shah had already informed the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) that he was ready to assume charge of the office of PAC chairman which the government had offered to him in line with the Charter of Democracy signed between the two parties in May 2006.
It is believed that Mr Shah had informed Finance Minister Ishaq Dar about his party’s decision during a meeting here on Tuesday.
The opposition leader had visited spacious Punjab House to enquire about the health of Mr Dar, who had recently undergone angioplasty at the Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology.
According to a handout issued by the office of the Opposition Leader, Mr Shah conveyed a message of good wishes to Mr Dar on behalf of Mr Zardari and also presented a bouquet.
On this occasion, Mr Shah, who does not miss any opportunity to criticise the government’s economic policies and recent price hike, declared Mr Dar “a national asset”.
When contacted, State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Sheikh Aftab Ahmad expressed his ignorance over the development, saying he or his ministry had nothing to do with the matter.
Responding to a question, he said he had not been informed yet by the party leadership about any decision of the government to appoint Mr Shah as the PAC chairman.
The National Assembly secretariat has already announced that the PAC will formally start functioning in the first week of December and all principal accounting officers of the federal government departments have been asked to complete their homework by that time.
Under the Charter of Democracy, the PPP government had appointed the then leader of opposition Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan as chairman of the PAC.
Sources in the PML-N and the PPP told Dawn that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was willing to give the PAC to the PPP, on the condition that Mr Shah would himself head it.