LAHORE: Four months after assuming power, the provincial government has finally decided to invite opposition for talks to constitute the Public Accounts and standing committees in the Punjab Assembly.

“We are inviting the opposition this week for talks to constitute the Public Accounts Committee I and II chairmen, and standing committees in the Punjab Assembly,” Punjab Law Minister Basharat Raja told Dawn on Tuesday.

He said after the decision by the federal government on the issue of PAC chairman, it had become easy for the Punjab government to follow suit.

“One chairman each will be from treasury and opposition for the two PACs. We will seek names for the PAC chairman and standing committee members from the opposition,” Basharat Raja said, adding that like in the Centre the matters related to the opposition members would be dealt by the PAC-II (headed by treasury member).

PML-N MPA Samiullah Khan said there was a misconception about powers of the PAC chairman. “Majority of members of PAC decide the matter and not its chairman,” he said and added that during the last 10 years of Shahbaz Sharif’s government the opposition chairman of PAC could not find out any major irregularity in any project.

With regard to handing over the chairmanship of standing committees, Samiullah Khan said: “We will suggest the government to apportion chairmanship of important portfolios among the treasury and opposition. We will not let the government decide on its own in this regard.”

He said since the standing committees dealt with the current issues, the government was always apprehensive about exposing of its misdeeds at the hands of the standing committees.

Mr Khan said from the opposition, the name of Hamza Shahbaz (opposition leader in Punjab Assembly) would be presented for PAC-I chairman.

Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2018