ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Raja Riaz on Tuesday said that there is no need for Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed to be a member of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
While addressing the media, Riaz said, “There are PTI members who are part of the PAC and are committed to working honestly and towards the betterment of the country. They will not allow Shehbaz Sharif to do anything against the rules.”
On the other hand, the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) decided to side with the government and asked for Shehbaz’s resignation as PAC chairman.
PAC and BAP member Senator Ahmed Khan said, “Shehbaz can be removed through voting. We are supporters of the government and will stand with them.”
Earlier, Sheikh Rasheed had criticised National Assembly (NA) Speaker Asad Qaiser for refusing to make him a PAC member, as he gave the parliament’s top accountability body’s chairman Shehbaz Sharif an eight-day deadline to step down from the office.
Rasheed had said the NA speaker should tell reasons for not making him a member of PAC despite receiving a letter to this effect from Prime Minister Imran Khan. He reiterated that NA Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif is not acceptable as PAC chairman at any cost. He slammed Asad Qaiser, saying the NA speaker took an illegal step by making Shehbaz as PAC chairman.
“I have informed Prime Minister Imran that Shehbaz Sharif is not acceptable to me as PAC chairman,” said Rasheed.
Earlier, the federal cabinet also called on Shehbaz Sharif to resign from PAC chairmanship. Following the federal cabinet meeting, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said the PAC was being used to protect those being probed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
“The committee is being used as a shield against corruption,” Chaudhry had said.
The minister added that Saad Rafique and others accused of corruption worth billions would be made members of the PAC.
“We (federal cabinet) believe that Shehbaz Sharif should resign on moral grounds,” Chaudhry added.
