Govt decides to finalise NAB chairman appointment in two weeks

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has decided to complete the appointment process of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman within two weeks, citing sources, ARY News reported on Friday.

The federal government decided to adopt all constitutional and legal options for the appointment of the NAB chairman.

The decisions were taken in a consultative session chaired by the premier today. The session was attended by Farogh Naseem, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Pervez Khattak, Shafqat Mahmood, Fawad Chaudhry, Senator Barrister Ali Zafar, attorney general and others.

The Minister for Law and Justice Farogh Naseem presented the constitutional and legal options before PM Imran Khan and federal ministers regarding the new appointment on the NAB’s top position and to retain the current chairman.

It emerged that PM Imran Khan has partially agreed to consult the opposition leader regarding the names for the position of NAB chairman.

 

The majority of the session’s participants have suggested the premier hold consultations with the opposition leader regarding the names of the NAB chairman.

Sources told ARY News that the current NAB chairman Javed Iqbal will continue to perform his duties until the new appointment. Sources added that Javed Iqbal will be considered along with the other names for the NAB chairmanship.

READ: PPP TO FORCEFULLY OPPOSE ‘ILLEGAL EXTENSION’ OF NAB CHAIRMAN’S TENURE

PM Imran Khan issued directives to finalise non-controversial amendments in NAB laws that will increase the reputation of the accountability process.

Sources said that a session will be held on Tuesday next week regarding the appointment of the NAB chairman. The law minister and attorney general have been directed to finalise the amendments in NAB laws.

Earlier on September 28, PM Imran Khan had chaired a meeting to mull over a proposal regarding extension in the tenure of the incumbent National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal.

The discussion on extension and fresh appointment of chairman NAB had remained futile and the session ended without any decision.

“It was decided that another meeting will be called in the next couple of days to discuss the matter again,” they said while detailing that Law Minister Farogh Naseem, Attorney General Khalid Jawed Khan, Adviser on Accountability Shahzad Akbar, and others attended the meeting.

They shared that the matters related to chairman NAB’s appointment and other changes in the NAB law were discussed during the meeting.