LAHORE: The opposition in the National Assembly will formulate its counter strategy only after the treasury acts to remove Shahbaz as Public Accounts Committee chairman.

“Neither the PML-N nor the PPP has talked of their respective future strategies in case the opposition leader is voted out or removed as PAC chairman – a slot that traditionally goes to the opposition leader since 2008 under the Charter of Democracy,” PPP secretary general Farhatullah Babar told Dawn by phone on Monday.

Various ministers have been demanding Shahbaz should step down as PAC head and in case of his refusal to do so they hinted at adopting different strategies, including voting the PML-N president out of the panel.

PML-N leader and former defence minister Khwaja Asif threatened on Sunday that the party had the capacity to disrupt functioning of the government though it did not want to mount the container [for protesting against such a move].

Mr Babar advised the PTI government to refrain from such kind of “short-sighted” political maneuvers, warning it that such a move was bound to exacerbate the political crisis in the country.

Referring to the threats by some PML-N leaders that they could quit other committees in protest if Mr Sharif was removed from PAC slot, the PPP leader said no such strategy had been formed formally either by the PML-N or his party. He said the opposition would come out with its future plans only after a “visible” move by the government.

However, Senator Babar didn’t believe in the statements of the PTI leaders saying “they would boast of taking a step only to eat their words.”

Published in Dawn, February 12th, 2019