Govt may not allow Marwat to head PAC: sources

Source: The News International

ISLAMABAD: The debate in the National Assembly on the speech of the president in the joint sitting of two houses of parliament last week will begin today (Monday).

According to the tradition, the speaker will invite the leader of the opposition to start the debate. There will be no time limit for his speech.

Parliamentary sources said it will be made clear to Leader of the Opposition Omar Ayub Khan that he would be able to express his views within the limits of the rules of National Assembly and the Constitution. Before the start of the meeting, there will be a meeting of the opposition parliamentary party in the committee room, in which the issue of two members, who have been suspended by Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq over rowdyism during the president's address, will be considered.

The members were banned from entering the Parliament House. The administration has been instructed not to allow them in the parliamentary premises on Monday. However, one of the members, Muhammad Iqbal Khan, has threatened to forcibly participate in the meeting.

There is no news about the other suspended member, Jamshed Ahmed Dasti.

The session of the National Assembly will continue until the end of the month. The government has decided that it will carry out its parliamentary business as usual despite the protests of the opposition.

The establishment of the House Business Committee consisting of the leadership of parliamentary groups of the House will be implemented first. The founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has nominated Sher Afzal Khan Marwat to head the Public Accounts Committee. Sources said the government has decided that it will not allow him to become the chairman of this extraordinary committee. Opposition's Chief Whip Malik Amir Dogar will be acceptable to it.

If there is a contest between the ruling alliance and Sunni Ittehad Council, then the way will be paved to make an experienced parliamentarian of PPP the head of the committee.

Sources say that Haji Noor Alam Khan, a Member of National Assembly from Peshawar of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, who served as the Chairman of Public Accounts Committee in the previous National Assembly, can also be the new chairman of the committee.

There is a possibility that the parliament may offer the Kashmir Committee chairmanship to Maulana Fazlur Rahman once again. Earlier, he had played an effective role as the head of this committee. The PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is also being named for the leadership of the committee. Meanwhile, the opposition has informed the Speaker's Secretariat that it wants to lead Home, Foreign, Finance and Communications committees.