The PML-N will head nine standing committees of the National Assembly and Opposition Leader Shahbaz Sharif will lead the all-important Public Accounts Committee of the parliament.

The decisions to this effect were taken at a meeting of the PML-N parliamentary group chaired by Sharif at the Parliament House, the party's spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb told Dawn.

PAC is the apex parliamentary watchdog that oversees the audit of revenue and expenditure by the government.

The NA speaker is yet to constitute standing and functional committees of the house. Political parties get representation in and chairmanship of the committees in proportion to their strength in the assembly.

According to Aurangzeb, it was decided in the meeting that the PML-N will keep a check on the government's steps and policies regarding the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, development projects and the local bodies system.

Addressing party legislators, Shahbaz Sharif said the opposition will make efforts to meet the expectations of the people.

He said the opposition will ensure that parliament is the "only hope for the people of this country" and only through the parliament the people's demands could be met. Lawmakers have not come to the legislature to get salaries and stage sit-ins, he was quoted as saying during the meeting.

The PML-N members vowed to protect the local bodies system that had been introduced by their government, particularly in Punjab.

Sharif, who had opened the budget debate in the NA on Monday, said the 'mini-budget' presented by Finance Minister Asad Umar showed the government had "no economic vision at all".