Justice (retd) Maqbol Baqar favourite to become next NAB chairman

Justice (retd) Maqor Baqar, who retired as the Supreme Court judge last, is the favourite to become the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman.

Incumbent NAB chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal’s tenure is coming to an end on June 2.

After the latest amendment passed by the National Assembly on Thursday, a person can not be appointed NAB chairman more than once putting to an end debate about extensions.

According to the sources, Pakistan Peoples Party has suggested the name of Justice Baqar.

On the other hand, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) head Nawaz Sharif had suggested the name of former bureaucrat Fawad Hasan Fawad for the post.

Fawad served as the Principal Secretary to Nawaz Sharif and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi during PML-N’s last tenure.

Coalition partners, however, are unlikely to agree on the name of Fawad as he has cases pending against him in the NAB.

Another name suggested for next NAB chairman was former Director General Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Bashir Memon. It is unlikely that former president Asif Ali Zardari agree on Memon’s name.

Bashir Memon was leading the FIA investigation into alleged money launder committed by former president and his sister Farya Talpur through fake accounts.

The final decision regarding the appointment of the NAB chairman will be taken after the meeting between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Raja Riaz.

NAB chairman appointment

The National Assembly approved on Thursday National Accountability Ordinance second Amendment 2021 bill changing the way the graft body work including appointment of the NAB chairman.

• Federal government, instead of president, will have the authority to appoint the NAB chairman (Yes, the language of the draft does not use a gender-neutral ‘chairperson’). The current President Arif Alvi belongs to PTI.

• The chairman of NAB will be appointed for a term of three years. The term has been reduced by a year from the previous four years.

• A person can not be appointed NAB chairman more than once. This put to an end debate about extensions.

• For the appointment of the NAB chairman, consultations will begin two months prior to the retirement of an incumbent chairman.

• The consultation for the appointment of a new chairman has to be completed within 40 days.

• If the prime minister and the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly could not reach a consensus on the name of a candidate for the NAB chairman post, the matter will be forwarded to the parliamentary committee.

• Parliamentary committee will have 30 days to finalize the name.

• On the retirement of the NAB chairman, deputy chairman will be made interim chief.

• In the absence of the deputy chairman, any senior officer of the bureau can be given charge of the chairman.