ISLAMABAD, Oct 8: The government and the PPP agreed on Tuesday to appoint a PML-N ‘loyalist’, federal interior secretary retired Major Chaudhry Qamar Zaman, as chairman of the National Accountability Bureau.

But the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Pakistan Muslim League-Q and Jamaat-i-Islami rejected the decision and called it a ‘shifty deal’ between the N-League and the PPP.

The PTI also hinted that it was considering challenging the decision in the Supreme Court.

The name of Chaudhry Zaman was proposed by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and former president Asif Ali Zardari, who is in Dubai, endorsed it.

Earlier, names of some retired judges were under consideration, but the two parties agreed to appoint a bureaucrat as NAB chairman when Prime Minister Sharif called Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly, Khurshid Shah, who was in his hometown, Sukkur.

The post has been lying vacant since May 28 when the Supreme Court declared illegal the appointment of retired Admiral Fasih Bokhari as NAB chairman.

“Today, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Leader of Opposition, Khurshid Shah, decided to appoint Chaudhry Qamar Zaman as NAB chairman,” Information Minister Pervez Rashid told Dawn.

He said Mr Zaman would formally be appointed as NAB chairman in the next 24 hours.

Against the backdrop of scheduled retirement of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in December, many circles believed that with the appointment of Mr Zaman, the NAB will not open cases pending against leaders of the PML-N and PPP because he had served under governments of the two parties in 90s.

The information minister dispelled a perception that a bureaucrat has been chosen out of the box for the top NAB post, instead of a retired judge of superior judiciary.

“Many new names, including that of Chaudhry Qamar Zaman, came under consideration during the last meeting between the prime minister and the leader of opposition,” he said.

“We were not against the appointment of a retired judge to the post because we ourselves had proposed the names of some retired judges and there was a consensus on the name of retired Justice Bhagwandas, but it was realised later that technically he cannot be appointed on any government position,” he added.

The minister said it was not a decision taken by two individuals, but the name of Chaudhry Zaman was discussed thoroughly within the PML-N as well as opposition parties.

Chaudhry Qamar Zaman had severed on many key posts right from Gen Zia’s era. He served in the Pakistan Army for 10 years and retired as a major. After working as ADC to Gen Ziaul Haq, he worked as home secretary in the PPP government. He was also in the good books of the Musharraf regime, which appointed his as interior secretary.

He is said to be very close to Prime Minister Sharif, as soon after formation of the present PML-N government his name was being considered for the post of principal secretary to the PM.

In the government of PML-N in late 90s, Mr Zaman was given charge of three grade 20 posts (chief commissioner of Islamabad, chief commissioner of Rawalpindi and chairman of the Capital Development Authority). He was called an official of ‘grade-66’ because of the three jobs.He also served as chief commissioner of Lahore and Rawalpindi, the housing secretary in the Sindh government, the federal education secretary and chief secretary of Gilgit-Baltistan. He was again appointed as interior secretary by the last caretaker government.

During the last PPP government, Mr Zaman served as interior secretary for three years, but later he was transferred to the education ministry after his relations with then interior minister Rehman Malik reportedly turned ‘sour’.

He served under federal ministers Riaz Pirzada and Sheikh Waqas Akram and minister of state Shahjahan Yousuf of the PML-Q as education secretary. Later, Riaz Pirzada, Sheikh Waqas and Shahjahan Yousuf joined the PML-N and PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain had reportedly blamed Chaudhry Zaman for helping them change their loyalty.Information Minister Pervez Rashid rejected a perception that Chaudhry Zaman will dump cases against Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari. “If he does so, anyone can knock the doors of the Supreme Court.”

Leader of Opposition, Khurshid Shah, expressed the hope that the decision would prove to be right in the future.

He said it was not true that the appointment of NAB chairman was delayed till the retirement of the chief justice.

Asked why the PTI was not taken into confidence on the name of Chaudhry Zaman, Mr Shah said he had conveyed it to PTI leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi several times, but he did not respond.

PTI spokesperson Dr Shireen Mazari said the government and the leader of opposition had not met the spirit of ‘meaningful’ consultation on the appointment of NAB chairman because the PTI and other opposition parties had not been consulted. “It is totally wrong that the PTI had been consulted on the issue,” she said.

The PTI, she said, reserved its right to challenge the decision in the Supreme Court.

PML-Q spokesman Kamil Ali Agha said Chaudhry Qamar Zaman was a good officer, but his appointment had raised many questions. “The decision gives an impression that both parties do not want real accountability in the country.”

According to the NAB Ordinance, the NAB chairman has to be appointed through ‘meaningful consultation’ with the leader of opposition.

The Supreme Court has already ordered ‘meaningful’ consultation between the government and the opposition.

On Sept 13, the apex court took a serious note that major operations of the NAB have come to a halt due to the absence of its chairman and gave a final warning to the government to appoint the NAB chief or be ready to face the consequences.