ISLAMABAD: The government and the opposition have finally agreed on a consensus candidate to become the new chief of the country’s main anti-corruption body, the main opposition leader said Tuesday.

“Today, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Leader of Opposition, Khursheed Shah, decided to appoint Chaudhry Qamar Zaman as NAB chairman,” Information Minister Pervez Rashid told Dawn, adding that Mr Zaman would formally be appointed as NAB chairman in the next 24 hours.

The decision was rejected by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) and Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) who called it a ‘shifty deal’ between the N-League and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

Talking about the decision, Rashid said that it was not taken by two individuals, but the name of Chaudhry Zaman was discussed thoroughly within the PML-N as well as opposition parties.

The federal information minister 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.”

Earlier, opposition leader Khursheed Shah told media that the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had contacted him over telephone for consultation over the key appointment. Shah said that the two leaders had agreed on the name of Chaudhry Qamar Zaman for the position of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman.

Sharif's proposal of Chaudry Zaman's name for the post was endorsed by former president Asif Ali Zardai, who is in Dubai.

Shah said that the name had been proposed by the government. "I have personally known Chaudhry Qamar Zaman. He is a good, honest individual," he said.

The prime minister and the opposition leader had met several times before to decide on a name for the chairman of the accountability bureau.

The position had fallen vacant on May 28 earlier this year after the Supreme Court had declared illegal the appointment of former National Accountability Bureau chairman Admiral (Retd) Fasih Bokhari on a petition filed by Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.

Last month, the apex court had noted that major operations of NAB had come to a halt in the absence of its chairman and had asked the government to make an appointment soon or be ready to face the consequences.

Moreover, the names of some retired judges were under consideration earlier, but the two parties eventually agreed to appoint a bureaucrat as NAB chairman.

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 had 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.