Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The upper house of the parliament on Thursday amended its rules to include senators in the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the National Assembly as members.

Both opposition and government senators termed it a historical day for the House of Federation. The announcement was made by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar who said the PML-N government would support inclusion of six members of the Senate in the PAC. This was for the first time in recent past that opposition praised the government for granting powers to the Senate and including senators in the PAC. However, they were of the view that it would a real achievement when the government would recognise the importance of senators in the money bill.

In his policy statement on behalf of the government, Dar said six members of the Senate might be included in the PAC. Six members of the Senate might include one each from the provinces as well as FATA and Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) to give representation to all areas/regions in the Senate, the House of Federation. The treasury and opposition in the Senate may have an equal share of three members each.

The finance minister suggested that the Senate chairman could select six members in consultation with parliamentary leaders keeping in view the proportionate strength of political parties in the House or the House could elect these six members through the due process as per Rules of Business and Procedure of the Senate. He proposed that the Rules of Business of the Senate as well as the National Assembly should be amended to reflect the new arrangement. He said that no system could afford two PACs because they would create complications. Even in the UK, Canada and others countries, he said, separate PACs did not exist.

Senators unanimously amended rules, paving the way for nomination of six senators to the PAC of the parliament for the first time in the parliamentary history of the country. The motion to amend the rules and nominate six senators to the PAC was moved by Leader of the House Raja Zafar-ul-Haq. He congratulated the House for resolving the longstanding issue amicably.

Earlier, Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani gave details of efforts made from time to time to include senators in the PAC. Senators were of the view that after the 1973 Constitution and passage of the 18th Constitutional Amendment, inclusion of senators in the PAC was a historic development and it would strengthen the democratic system. They said that performance of the PAC would improve after inclusion of senators. The House thanked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for recognising Senate’s role in the PAC. He said that real test of senators would begin when they would join the PAC and give their input. He asked senators to select members for PAC purely on merit.

The House also took up an adjournment motion about the closure of 497 schools in FATA under the rationalisation plan. However, Federal Minister for States and Frontier Regions Abdul Qadir Baloch assured the House that these schools would not be closed and the decision would be reviewed soon. Senators belonging to the opposition and the government expressed their concern about the possible closure of schools, especially in areas worst hit by terrorism. They were of the view that more schools should be opened there instead of closing the existing ones, to promote education there.

Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reform Ahsan Iqbal informed the House that the CPEC was a project of national importance. There were written agreements between the two governments, but they could not be made public. He said that he would provide a copy of the agreement to the Senate chairman so that senators could see it. He said the entire world was looking towards this project; therefore, the agreement on it could not be made public.

Earlier, during the Question Hour, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan informed the Senate in writing that 205 cases had been detected where foreigners were issued computerised national identity cards after June 30, 2014. He said that 1,679 identity cards issued after June 30, 2014, had been blocked and cancelled.