LAHORE: Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah said Friday that the country’s political forces wanted to appoint the most competent individuals to the vacant offices of Chief Election Commissioner and chairman of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) which was why the process was taking some time, DawnNews reported.

The opposition leader’s statement comes two days after his meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif over the selection of a chairman for the NAB — a post that has been vacant for over four months. The two however could not agree on any of the already proposed names — Justice (retd) Mian Muhammad Ajmal and Justice (retd) Ijaz Chaudhry.

Speaking to media representatives outside the Lahore airport, Shah said once the names of the candidates are finalized for the posts of NAB chief and Chief Election Commissioner, the final decision would be taken in a meeting with Prime Minister Sharif.

Shah said people would have to think of themselves as Pakistanis in order to resolve the problems faced by the country.

Responding to a question regarding targeted operations in the country’s financial capital Karachi, Shah said no specific political party was being targeted.

Meanwhile, the opposition leader said scores of people would be affected due to the increase in electricity tariff, adding that the government should not have made such a decision. It may be mentioned that during a hearing of the power tariff hike case in the Supreme Court, Attorney General Munir A. Malik informed the bench that the government had decided to withdraw the September 30 notification that led to the increase in electricity prices.