PTI’s Junaid Akbar elected PAC chairman unopposed – Pakistan

PTI MNA Junaid Akbar Khan was elected chairman of the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee on Friday, the NA Secretariat confirmed in a press release.

The PAC is among the most powerful parliamentary bodies, with the authority to summon virtually any individual or record from government departments in financial matters. The post has remained vacant since the General Elections in February, 2024.

Earlier, the PTI had nominated party firebrand Sher Afzal Marwat as a candidate for the PAC’s chairmanship, but later replaced his name with current party spokesperson Sheikh Waqas Akram.

On December 20, NA Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq gave the government and opposition one week to nominate candidates to fill the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman’s post.

According to the NA Secretariat press release issued today, Akbar was “unanimously” elected chairman of the PAC.

“Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, Opposition Leader Omar Ayub Khan, Senator Shibli Faraz and others proposed the name of Junaid Akbar Khan,” the release read, adding that he received support from MNAs including Riaz Fatiana, Malik Aamir Dogar, Wazhiya Qamar and Sardar Muhammad Yousaf Zaman.

Thanking the committee members for their support, Akbar said, “I will move forward with the members of this committee.”

During the meeting itself, Dr Chaudhry said, “The government made the decision to grant chairmanship of the PAC to the opposition. They asked for five names and sent three letters.”

He added that the chief whip sent the names of Omar Ayub, Junaid Akbar, Aamir Dogar, Khawaja Shiraz and Adil Bazai.

Meanwhile, Chief Whip Amir Dogar attributed the delay in the chairman’s election to the government. “In the past, we did not ask the opposition for any panel and we told [Prime Minister] Shehbaz Sharif that he can nominate whoever he wants,” he said.

“This government has created a tradition of asking for a panel.”

In response, Chaudhry said that Shehbaz was elected PAC chairman because he was the leader of the opposition at the time.