ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s federal government appointed former lieutenant-general Nazir Ahmad as the new chairman of the anti-graft body after holding consultations with the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly.
The top National Accountability Bureau (NAB) post fell vacant last month when Aftab Sultan, the previous chairman, submitted his resignation which was accepted by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Sultan, who supervised the Intelligence Bureau in the past, complained of “interference” in his work while quitting his job.
“After detailed deliberations, the Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly have [reached a] consensus on the appointment of Lt. Gen. (R) Nazir Ahmad (a retired officer of the Armed Forces of Pakistan) as Chairman, NAB,” said the summary for the cabinet while mentioning the appointment.
This handout picture, posted by the National Defence University, shows Lieutenant General (Retired) Nazir Ahmad Butt who served as president of the army-run university from April 2016 to December 2016. (Photo courtesy: NDU/Website)
According to the local media, Ahmad was commissioned in 40 Frontier Force Regiment and served as Peshawar’s corps commander.
The top NAB appointment is usually considered significant in a country where the organization is widely viewed as a weapon wielded by governments against opposition factions.
Politicians have also described it as tool for political engineering in the past, saying it was used by both civilian and military administrations.
Reacting to the development, former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party termed the appointment as “controversial” while questioning the legitimacy of the current leader of the opposition in the National Assembly.
“The process of appointing the chairman NAB is controversial,” said PTI vice president Chaudhry Fawad Hussain in a Twitter post. “The court has suspended the resignation notification of Tehreek-e-Insaf members and Tehreek-e-Insaf has nominated Shah Mahmood Qureshi as the leader of the opposition. In this background, the consultation process related to the appointment of the new chairman NAB was not done legally.”
