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Sunday, October 16, 2011
President writes letter to opposition leaderZardari defends Bokhari’s nomination as NAB chief
* President thanks opposition leader in NA ‘for taking part in the consultative process as mandated by law’
ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari has said that the name of Admiral (r) Fasih Bokhari as the NAB chairman had been proposed in accordance with the provisions of the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999.
Spokesperson to the President Farhatullah Babar said that the president said this in a letter sent to the opposition leader on Saturday night.
The president thanked the opposition leader “for taking part in the consultative process, as mandated by law” in the nomination of Admiral (r) Bokhari and expressed the hope that the nominee “would serve the institution in the best manner”. The letter made it clear that the name of Fasih Bokhari had been proposed in accordance with the “existing law at the point of time” and that the leader of the House had also concurred to the proposal.
The president also pointed out that the opposition leader had offered no comments “on the profile and integrity of the nominee, which in fact is the material aspect of the consultation”.
Babar said that the president referred to clause (ba) of section 6 of the NAB Ordinance and said that the existing provisions of law had been strictly followed and there was no deviation from the existing legislation in any manner.
He said that section 6 clause (ba) reads as under:
“A person shall not be appointed as Chairman NAB unless he:-(i) is a retired chief justice or judge or the Supreme Court, or a chief justice of a high court; or (ii) is a retired officer of the armed forces of Pakistan equivalent to the rank of a lieutenant general; or (iii) is a retired federal government officer in BPS-22 or equivalent”.
The president said that the proposed nominee falls under sub-clause (ii) of clause (ba) of section 6 of the aforesaid ordinance.
Babar said that the president rejected the suggestion by opposition leader that a panel of names be sent to him for consultation, saying that the suggestion was devoid of any legal basis.
Instead the president informed the opposition leader that “meaningful consultation can be done even on a single person and for that purpose you are taken on board quite candidly,” Farhatullah Babar said
“I have consulted the Leader of the House in the National Assembly on the subject who has concurred to the proposal,” the president further said.
“In order to implement the judgements of the superior courts referred to in your letter, a bill is proposed by the federal government and is pending in parliament wherein process of consideration of the bill by the members of parliament is taking place”, the president’s letter said. appCourtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk