PTI seeks consultation on new NAB chief

LAHORE/ISLAMABAD:

PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry has said that a new leader of the opposition in the National Assembly from his party should be notified before the selection of new chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

Fawad insisted that since the Lahore High Court (LHC) has suspended the notification of PTI lawmakers, the opposition leader in NA should be picked from the party.

Thus, he demanded, a head of the anti-graft body should be appointed only after proper consultation with the opposition leader.

The former federal minister noted that the current leader of the opposition, Raja Riaz – a disgruntled PTI legislator – lacked the credentials for the process as “everyone knows he was a turncoat”.

If the NAB chief is appointed with the consultation of Riaz, it would be unacceptable, he added.

He went on to stress that the PTI would approach the courts if a PTI parliamentarian was consulted on the matter and claimed that NAB Chairman Aftab Sultan resigned from his post due to “pressure to lodge fake cases” against the government’s opponents.

He claimed that an organised campaign has been launched against the judges. “The PML-N has started a campaign against five judges involved in the Panama case,” he alleged and said that the Supreme Court of Pakistan should take notice of this.

The PTI wants to strengthen the judicial system in the country, he added.

He disclosed that the PTI has decided that when whenever the court calls them, they would appear before the courts. “I do not understand why the judges thought calling Imran to the court was necessary. However, out of respect for the judiciary, the former premier appeared for the hearing,” he added.

However, he castigated the authorities for not making arrangements for the PTI chief’s visit to the LHC.

“The high court made history on the occasion of PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s appearance before the bench. The people of Lahore showered their love [on Imran].”

Commenting on PTI’s ‘jail bharo’ (volunteer arrest) movement, he said it kick off on Wednesday (today), adding it would be on peaceful protests.

He expressed thanks to the government for imposing Section 144 (on the few roads of the city) and added that tomorrow thousands of people would stage a protest on Mall Road. “Our only demand is snap polls,” he added.

On this occasion, PTI Senator Ejaz Chaudhry said the movement was the next political plan of the PTI, adding that about 200 leaders and workers would surrender themselves before the authority.

“This movement was also a protest against inflation and the arrests would be made in other cities after Lahore,” he added.

PTI writes to NA speaker

On the other hand, in a related development, PTI wrote a letter to National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf seeking to regain the key position in the wake of the NAB head’s resignation.

PTI Chief Whip in National Assembly Malik Aamir Dogar submitted the letter to the National Assembly Secretariat on the instruction of PTI Chairman Imran Khan.

Citing the verdict of the LHC, the letter stated that the largest opposition party in the national legislature was PTI. Hence, the opposition leader must be from the same party.

The letter added that according to the NAB law; the appointment of a new chairman also has to be carried out after consultation between the leader of the house and the leader of the opposition.

Therefore, the replacement of NAB's former chairman Aftab Sultan must be finalised after consultation with the new opposition leader nominated by PTI.