ISLAMABAD: The Opposition Leader in the National Assembly, Khursheed Shah, met with Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Friday to discuss the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) chairman selection.
In the hour-long meeting, Shah said that he rolled in names given by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) in front of the Prime Minister.
Shah said that he hopes there will be mutual consensus on the new NAB chairman’s name.
The PTI, which has often criticized the ‘arrangement’ between Shah, hailing from the largest opposition party – Pakistan People’s Party – and the government, has put forward the names of former Sindh inspector general and head of the Intelligence Bureau Shoaib Suddle, former chief secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Arbab Shahzad and former Supreme Court Justice, Falak Sher.
Meanwhile, on the other hand, MQM has pitched in the names of former Justice Mahmood Rizvi, Justice Mohammad Ghaus and former Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Kanwar Dilshad.
It is also reported that on Friday, PTI’s Shah Mehmood Qureshi held a meeting with Jamaat-e-Islami chief Senator, Sirajul Haq in Lahore. Amongst other issues, the two opposition parties discussed the matter of the NAB chairman’s appointment, according to sources.
Serving a term of four years, the present NAB chief, Qamar Zaman Chaudhry, will be retiring on October 10.
The government has proposed the names of Justice (retd) Rehmat Jafry, Justice (retd) Chaudhry Aijaz and Director General Intelligence Bureau Aftab Sultan, for his replacement.
PPP suggested the names of Justice (retd) Faqer Mohammad Khokhar, Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal and former ECP secretary Ishtiaque Ahmed Khan.
The appointment of the new NAB chairman has been of central focus to the prime minister and opposition leader, recently gaining more importance owing to the ongoing corruption cases against ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Taken in light of the Supreme Court’s July 28 judgment in the Panama Papers case, which led to Sharif’s disqualification, NAB has filed three corruption references against Sharif and his family, and one against Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in a court of accountability.
