Grant of extension to NAB chairman: Govt never had this proposal on table, says Babar Awan

ISLAMABAD: The proposal to extend employment tenures of the National Accountability Bureau chairman, his deputy and the Bureau’s prosecutor general was never on the table as far as the government is concerned.

Adviser to the Prime Minister Parliamentary Affairs Babar Away told The News on Monday that no such suggestion was ever put forward by the federal law ministry. “I don’t know who claimed that this proposal was mooted by the government.”

“No such suggestion was ever put forward by the federal law ministry,” he told The News. “I don’t know who claimed that this proposal was mooted by the government,” he said adding that in the past too, a draft of amendments to the NAB law surfaced that was dubbed as the government document.

On the eve of the maiden meeting of the 24-member bipartisan parliamentary committee constituted by Speaker Asad Qaisar three days ago, a draft of amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), 1999 said that the government has recommended removal of the word “non-extendable” from the law to make the tenures of the NAB chairman, his deputy and prosecutor general extendable. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had instantly rejected the amendment pertaining to the extension of top bosses of the NAB. As the government disowned the amendment, the contentious issue ended quickly. Babar Awan said that the government is trying its best to do maximum legislation to clear the backlog and meet international commitments.

Meanwhile, a government source claimed that the PML-N representatives in the parliamentary committee lacked cohesion and harmony as they did not come out with one opinion on the question of amendments to the NAO.

He further claimed that in fact two meetings – one that was known to all and sundry while the other was backdoor – were held on Monday on the legislative agenda specifically amendments to the NAO.

The source said that PML-N Senior Vice President and former prime minister Shahid Khakan Abbasi had objected to the presence of the Speaker in the inaugural meeting of the parliamentary panel. After that, Asad Qaisar left the deliberations saying that he was here only to facilitate and enable the two sides to reach consensus, according to the source.

He also claimed that one set of PML-N interlocutors apparently opted for the draft of amendments to the NAO that was advanced by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader and former law minister Farooq H Naek while the other has some other views.

However, Abbasi has publicly stated that he left the meeting as the committee formed by the Speaker was illegal and against the rules. He declared not be part of this discussion. However, a PML-N leader refuted this and said that they echoed the same view in the meeting. He said that there were no differences among them about amending the NAO drastically so that it becomes a normal law, having regard to and respect for human rights and dignity.

He said that the PML-N insists that the superior courts and Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) have provided ample guidelines to alter the NAB law. He said that the recommendations of the courts were mandatory for Parliament to implement.

The PML-N leader said that there was not a single voice in his party that opposes the enforcement of the proposals given by the superior judiciary. Everyone wants that the suggestions made by the superior courts multiple times should be inserted in the NAO, he asserted.