ISLAMABAD: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Sirajul Haq has demanded taking away powers of appointing the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman from the treasury and the opposition to ensure the appointment of an impartial individual as per the diktat of justice.
“Instead, the NAB chairman should be decided jointly by the chief justices of the Supreme Court and the four high courts of the country,” Siraj told reporters outside the Supreme Court on Thursday. He added that if NAB had an impartial chairman, the country would not have been in the mess that it is in today.
Under the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), 1999, the appointment of NAB chairman is made by the prime minister in consultation with the leader of the opposition.
Siraj said that Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Khursheed Shah are in consultations over the appointment of the new NAB chairman.
Asking ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif to accept the court verdict of his disqualification, Siraj added that the review petition filed by Nawaz Sharif and others against the judgement will not achieve anything.
“We want a rule of constitution and law and not that of families in this country and we also want accountability of 436 individuals whose names appeared in Panama Leaks. All those should be held accountable who made money here and transferred it overseas,” he said, adding that corruption is financial terrorism against which collective action should be taken.
The Jamaat-e-Islami will not recommend any name for the appointment of NAB chairman, Siraj concluded.
It may be mentioned here that NAB chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry is retiring next month.
