Leader of the opposition in the National Assembly Khursheed Shah on Saturday hinted at dropping Justice (r) Bhagwandas name for the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) head’s slot.
He said another name would be proposed if there were reservations against the proposal made by him.
“Chairman NAB should be non-controversial. We will give another name in case of reservations,” said Shah while addressing reporters at Parliament House via telephone.
His retreat showed that the party leadership agreed to the media reports suggesting that under the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) rules, its chairman cannot be appointed as head of any institution. Bhagwandas has served as the FPSC chairman and, according to some legal experts he is ineligible for the appointment as the NAB head.
However, Shah, the soft-spoken politician known for his political prudence in handling complex political situations, came down hard on the PML-N leadership for delaying the All Parties Conference (APC) on counterterrorism policy formulation, saying that this (delay) reflected that the government had failed.
“There should not have been delays in calling the APC. But the government has not yet contacted the parliamentary leaders of political parties,” he said, adding that even no political party had been taken onboard in connection with the postponement of APC.
“The APC was postponed without our consultation and no contact has been made with us so far in this regard. Silence on the part of government is incomprehensible,” he added.
Shah also took the government to task for leakage of the Abbottabad Commission report, calling for a through probe into the matter.
“The (Abbottabad) commission’s report has been made viral but no reaction has come from the government. This (leak) should be investigated. Nation needs to know what are the designs behind this leak,” he asserted.
The PPP leader also criticised the government for arrest of former Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) chief Tauqir Sadiq, saying that political vendetta should not be settled through NAB.
Referring to the unabated load shedding, Shah said that the power load shedding continued to affect the daily life across the country. “Why Shahbaz Sharif does not hold protests by setting up tent office at Minar-e-Pakistan now,” he argued.
He also referred to increasing inflation and said that the prices of commodities have soared unprecedented and claimed that those who have voted for the PML-N in recent polls were now “repenting”.
“We used to say during general elections that tiger will swallow the people and it proved true. Tiger is roaring to tear apart the people. Certainly those who had cast their votes in support of PML-N are repenting now,” he said, adding that the government had brought mini-budget by issuing SROs on the general sales tax (GST).
“The PPP will voice strong protest against these SROs issued illegally. We will move adjournment motion against price hike in National Assembly,” he maintained.
