After a delay of two months, the standing committees of the National Assembly were finally established

After more than two months of delay, National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq finally constituted 40 standing committees including the powerful Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Thursday.

According to the official announcement of the National Assembly Secretariat, the Speaker has finalized the names of the committee members in the light of the motion to be presented in the National Assembly on May 17.

The Standing Committees of the House play an important role in monitoring and accountability of the work of the respective Ministries of the Government. In parliamentary democracies, committees are considered the ‘eyes, ears, hands and brain’ of the parliament.

Standing Committees scrutinize bills sent by the House and submit their reports to the House.

The rules and regulations of the National Assembly contain special provisions which empower the Standing Committees to review the expenditure, administration, delegated legislation, public requests and policies of the concerned Ministry and its related public institutions and to make its findings and recommendations. The report can be sent to the ministry and the ministry.

Under Rule 200 of the Rules, all standing committees and their members must be elected by the Assembly within thirty days after the election of the Prime Minister on March 3. However, due to the disagreement among the political parties on which committee should be given, this time the formation was delayed.

The session of the lower house of the Pakistani Parliament i.e. the National Assembly is ongoing on February 29, 2024, in which the newly elected members of the Assembly have taken oath (Independent Urdu / Quratul Ain Shirazi).

Although the names of the committee heads were not given in the National Assembly declaration, there are reports that according to the agreed formula, the opposition Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) will now head ten committees, including the important Public Accounts Committee.

Apart from this, PML-N will get 13 chairmanships while Pakistan People’s Party and Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan will get eight and two committee chairmanships respectively. The chairmanship of the remaining committees will be divided among the parties in the ruling coalition.

Initially, Sher Afzal Marwat of Tehreek-e-Insaf was nominated for the post of PAC Chairman, but later it was decided to nominate Sheikh Waqas Akram for the post. Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb will be a former member of PAC.

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According to the notification, PAC members include Defense Minister Khawaja Asif, Sardar Yusuf Zaman, Dr. Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, Junaid Anwar Chaudhry, Shizra Mansab Kharal, Raza Hayat Haraj and Rana Qasim Noon of PML-N. Murtaza Mehmood, Shazia Marri, Syed Hussain Tariq, Syed Naveed Qamar and Hina Rabbani Khar of People’s Party. Opposition leader Umar Ayub Khan as Azad; Sanaullah Mastikhel, Junaid Akbar, Riaz Khan, Waqas Akram, Aamir Dogar and Khawaja Shiraz Mehmood of SIC, Moin Amir Pirzada of MQMP and Shahida Begum of Jamiat Ulema Islam (JUI-F) are included.

Among the standing committees formed are Standing Committee on Aviation, Standing Committee on Cabinet Division, Standing Committee on Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, Standing Committee on Trade, Standing Committee on Communications, Standing Committee on Defense, Standing Committee on Defense Production, Standing Committee on Economic Affairs Division, Standing Committee on Energy and Petroleum Division, Standing Committee on Federal Education, Professional Training, National Heritage and Culture Standing Committee on Finance and Finance, Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Standing Committee on Government Assurances, Standing Committee on Housing and Works, Standing Committee on Law and Justice, Industry and Production, Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting, Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication, Standing Committee on Interior, Standing Committee on Inter-Provincial Coordination, Standing Committee on Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan Affairs, Standing Committee on Maritime Affairs, Standing Committee on Narcotics Control, Standing Committee on Food Security and Research, Standing Committee on National Health Services and Regulation and Coordination, Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistani Manpower and Development, Standing Committee on Planning Development and Special Measures, Standing Committee on Poverty Alleviation and Social Security Division, Standing Committee on Energy Power Division, Standing Committee on Privatization, Railways, Standing Committee on Religious Affairs, Interfaith Harmony, Standing Committee on Rules and Regulations and Privileges, Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Standing Committee Committee on State and Frontier Regions, Standing Committee on Water Resources, Standing Committee on House and Library and Public Accounts Committee PAC are included.

Earlier in the Senate, Muslim League-N parliamentary leader Irfan Siddiqui was elected unopposed as the chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs.