NAB chairman wants to evade parliamentary accountability, claims Sherry Rehman

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Parliamentary Leader in the Senate, Senator Sherry Rehman, reprimanded National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman for skipping the meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and said he wants to evade parliamentary accountability.

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Speaking to the media after the PAC meeting was cut short on Thursday, she said, “In the last meeting, NAB chairman had asked for a PAC in-camera meeting to present the figures on the utilisation and recovery from the NAB’s proceedings. This was an extremely important subject that both Naveed Qamar and I turned around from on our way to Lahore and missed party’s central executive committee (CEC) meeting.”

She added both dates for the PAC meeting were chosen by the NAB chairman and yet he did not show up.

“Last night, we received a letter stating that the principal accounting officer (PAO) has been changed. The question now remains that will the PAO be responsible for the decisions taken by NAB? Due to all the issues raised because of this situation, we have told the PAC chairman that this meeting cannot take place.”

“Is accountability only for politicians but not for the NAB chairman?” she questioned and said that the NAB does not hold in-camera meetings for politicians.

“Speculations around politicians’ dealings have become a regular topic in the media, without investigations, evidence, or even references. PAC is a vehicle for constitutional accountability but from today’s proceedings it seems as though NAB wants to evade accountability from the Parliament.”

Speaking on the occasion, PPP MNA Naveed Qamar said, “NAB chairman wants accountability from everyone, but his refusal to show up to this meeting shows that he refuses accountability for himself.”

“This will set a dangerous precedent, as now every secretary can say that they are busy and instead of showing up to fulfill their role, they can designate their role to the joint secretary and absolve themselves from accountability,” Qamar warned.

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He said that the NAB ordinance needs to be changed if the bureau’s chairman is unable to make decisions.

“There is a moral authority that comes with this position, but the chairman has shown today that he is no longer fit for that authority.”