Cat to bell the fat cats

New NAB chairman must unanimously be considered Mr. Right
The race to appoint a successor to the incumbent NAB chief retiring in October after four tumultuous years has started timely, though on the wrong foot, with a meeting between the legally constituted arbiters, the PM and Leader of Opposition, on Wednesday. The strained PML-N – PPP relations were evident in the latter’s refusal to visit the PM House, with the parleys taking place at the NA Speaker’s residence, the last person or place to inspire confidence about impartiality and fair play. Reaching a consensus on a Mr. Right who is also Mr. Clean and neutral in deed, appears well-nigh impossible under present circumstances, when the NAB chairman’s office is squarely in crosshairs of opposition political parties, accused of selectivity, arm-twisting tactics against opponents, and saddled with the formidable task of prosecuting cases against Nawaz Sharif and possibly Asif Zardari. Already moves are afoot by the PTI and MQM-P to replace Khursheed Shah as Opposition Leader to ensure that a correct choice is made this time, regarding the appointees’ background, integrity and repute.
The PML-N has an unenviable reputation of arbitrarily imposing its contentious policies and controversial personalities by riding roughshod over opposing viewpoints, but the new PM of a shaken and insecure party will need to play things differently. Cogent opinions of PPP, PTI, MQM-N and also minor parties should be given greater credence, to avoid Supreme Court intervention as happened in the cases of Deedar Shah and Fasih Bokhari, two NAB chairmen sent home midterm on a petition by then Leader of Opposition Chaudhry Nisar that no mandatory ‘meaningful consultations’ were undertaken with him by the PPP government, and also suggesting that the task of appointing the Chairman be entrusted to the Supreme Court. A fair and just compromise, not a mutually beneficial arrangement to wipe away corruption stains, made strictly in accordance with legal and constitutional provisions, is essential for general acceptance of the country’s foremost anti-graft chief. No previous controversy should attach to his name. Only then will the process of accountability be fair, credible, effective, impartial and swift.