ISLAMABAD: Dispelling rumours about lawmakers’ resignations and chances of early elections in the country, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah expressed confidence that the current assembly would complete its constitutional term.
He said this during a visit to the office of the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) on Wednesday, where AGP Javed Jahangir was scheduled to brief the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on his office’s performance. The opposition leader is also chairman of the PAC.
“The country cannot afford any unconstitutional moves and the continuity of the [democratic] system is in the interest of the entire nation,” the opposition leader said, adding that parliament would complete its remaining five months. He was confident about a smooth transition and said the continuity of democracy would also strengthen institutions.
According to the leader of the opposition, improvement was a continuous process and institutions like the PAC and AGP office should also take initiatives to improve the process of oversight and bring innovation to the existing process.
“As part of our holistic approach towards public sector auditing, we have revamped the way the PAC works,” he explained.
Mr Jahangir informed the PAC that the AGP office had prepared 152 audit reports, 1,208 compliance reports, conducted 199 audits of foreign-funded projects and issued 79 reports of special audit of different ministries and 56 performance reports during the year 2016-17.
As per the AGP’s briefing, recoveries of Rs88.56 billion had also been made in response to audit paras raised by the auditors.
Mr Jahangir, however, requested the PAC to extend its support for the autonomy of the AGP office as currently it was operating under the finance division.
He said that the AGP office had approved a strategy for implementation of International Standards of Supreme Audit Institution (ISSAI) and a high-level committee was monitoring its implementation.
Published in Dawn, February 1st, 2018
