Contacted PTI, MQM for selection of NAB chairman: opposition leader

ISLAMABAD: Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Khursheed Shah said on Thursday that he contacted the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf for the selection of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman.

The Pakistan Peoples Party’s senior leader was speaking to journalists when he said that the current NAB Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry was controversial since day one.

Shah said that he met Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi for the appointment of the chairman NAB, adding that he did not present any grievances before the premier.

The incumbent NAB chairman retires in the third week of October and is appointed after consultation between the premier and the opposition leader, as per the law. 

“We will give the government the name for the new NAB chairman as soon as possible,” said Shah.

He said that a person having zero contact with politics will be named.

The new chairman should have a clean past and must be dedicated to eradicating corruption, said the opposition leader.

Meanwhile, the PTI has started making attempts to replace Khursheed Shah with its own member, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, as the leader of the opposition.

The PTI is seeking political support to make Qureshi opposition leader before the caretaker government steps in prior to the General Elections 2018.

According to sources, the Imran Khan-led party established back door contact with Muttahida Quami Movement-Pakistan and is approaching other political parties as well.

The move, if it goes through before mid-October, will also put PTI in the forefront of choosing the next NAB chairman as the opposition leader plays a crucial role in the appointment.