No progress in appointment of NAB chief: PPP rejects govt’s claim over process of consultation

ISLAMABAD: The process of appointment of the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) chairman is not moving forward as the government has yet to invite the leader of opposition in the National Assembly for a meeting on the issue, Dawn has learnt. The government, however, claims it has already initiated the process of ‘consultation’ with the opposition for the appointment of NAB chief. According to NAB Ordinance, the bureau’s chairman has to be appointed through consultation between the government and the opposition. The name of the new chairman of NAB has to be decided by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah. The Supreme Court has already ordered holding of ‘meaningful’ consultation between the government and the opposition on the issue. Earlier, the PML-N government and the main opposition PPP had decided that the two sides would sit across a table to develop consensus on the person to be appointed as NAB chairman. “I have so far not received any invitation from the prime minister for a meeting,” Mr Shah told Dawn on Sunday. He called upon the government to adopt a proper way of consultation and send him an invitation for the talks. Some references and cases under investigation are said to be pending in the NAB on which no further action can be taken due to absence of NAB chairman. The last NAB chairman, retired Admiral Fasih Bokhari, was removed by the Supreme Court on May 28 after his appointment was declared illegal. The PML-N government claimed on June 26 that it had kicked off the process of consultation with the opposition on the issue when Prosecutor General K.K. Agha apprised the apex court about it during the hearing of National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) implementation case. The Supreme Court took a serious note over delay in the appointment of the NAB chairman and Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry questioned the attorney general: “What is the problem with the government. Why there is a delay in appointment of the NAB chairman.” Talking to Dawn, PPP leader Farhatullah Babar said that the government had not yet contacted the opposition for consultation. In response to the government’s claim that the process of consultation has been started, a source in the PPP has rejected it. He quoted Mr Shah as saying: “This is not the way to consult with the leader of the opposition.” It is pertinent to mention here that two former chairmen of NAB — retired Justice Syed Deedar Hussain Shah and retired Admiral Fasih Bokhari — were sent home by the Supreme Court on separate petitions filed by Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, who was leader of the opposition at that time. Chaudhry Nisar pleaded that no ‘meaningful’ consultation had taken place between him and the PPP government for the appointments of the two chairmen. Admiral Bokhari was removed on May 29 as his appointment on Oct 17, 2011 was declared illegal by the apex court. Deedar Shah served for only five months as he was appointed on Oct 19, 2010 and sent home on March 11, 2011. It is now expected that the PPP will not easily agree on any person proposed by the government to give a similar response given by the PML-N when it was in the opposition and the PPP in government. The government has proposed two names for the post — retired Justice Rehmat Hussain Jaffery and former federal secretary Khawaja Zaheer Ahmed — and the opposition has suggested the names of retired Justice Bhagwandas and retired Justice Sardar Raza. The name of Mr Bhagwandas, who has served as chairman of Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC), has become controversial as it has been reported in the media that under the laws of the FPSC its chairman cannot hold any other government office after serving as FPSC chairman. Earlier, the opposition party had suggested the name of retired judge Mamoon Qazi for the post of NAB chairman but he had declined to be the head of the bureau due to health reasons.