Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry on Sunday said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s resignation from parliamentary standing committees resulted from internal party differences over the chairmanship of committees – particularly the Public Accounts Committee – rather than any ideology.
The minister, talking to the media, said that while PTI leadership attempted to project the move as a matter of principle or ideology in the media, the core issue was an internal dispute within the party regarding the appointment of committee chairmen, especially concerning Public Accounts Committee Chairman Junaid Akbar Khan.
The parliamentary affairs minister said that after resigning from the standing committees, the opposition members were now left with no position.
“By boycotting the proceedings of the standing committees, the opposition has disassociated itself from the budget process. This disassociation from the committees is the first step, and it remains to be seen what they do inside the parliament,” he
He said invited the PTI to return to parliament and play a positive role, while appreciating their constructive contributions to the budget-making process before resigning from the parliamentary standing committees.
He said that the opposition members remained were very positive in the previous budget-related sessions and examined all budget matters with great scrutiny.
Tariq Fazal said that the government also entertained the input of the opposition in the budget with great seriousness and in a positive manner, particularly appreciating the positive work by young parliamentarians like Osama Mela and Mubeen Arif in the parliamentary committees.