ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf is considering making Chairman NAB admiral Fasieh Bukhari as his advisor on national security, a position that was last held by the controversial Major General (R) Mahmood Ali Durrani.
Admiral Bukhari, sources said, showed his desire to get himself relieved as the NAB chairman after he could not develop required working relationship with the incumbent law minister Farooq H Naik.
Although Bukhari was not available for his comments when approached on his mobile. The sources said that Chairman NAB has been conveyed about the possible change of his role.
These sources said that Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf intends to speak to the Army Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani over the appointment of retired admiral Bukhari as new adviser to the Prime Minister on national security.
The office of Chairman NAB is a tenure post. Under the law the term of the chairman NAB is four years. The chairman could not be removed by the government but through supreme judicial council as is the procedure for the removal of a judge of the high court or the Supreme Court.
In Bukhari’s case, however, these sources said he himself is willing to leave the job as the law minister Farooq H Naik is not comfortable with him.
Fasieh Bukhari has been controversial as chairman NAB from day one as his appointment was not supported by the Leader of the Opposition and thus was bulldozed by the government. Consequently the appointment was immediately challenged in the apex court where the petitions questioning his appointment are waiting to be heard by the Supreme Court.
However, in the meantime, the NAB under Bukhari served as a perfectly tamed body in favour of the rulers and the mighty and powerful. No less than the Supreme Court reprimanded Bukhari for protecting the corrupt instead of proceeding against them.
Besides delivering to the government expectations in several other cases, the NAB chairman has also done well for the regime in the RPPs case in which the incumbent Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf was one of the accused.
As was expected from the friendly NAB, Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf was timely found “innocent” in the RPP’s scam. However, no formal announcement to this respect has been made by the NAB to avoid controversies.
A top NAB official on condition of not being named only recently told this correspondent said nothing was found against Raja Pervez Ashraf by the NAB investigators. The source, holding a key position in the highly politicized Bureau, said that Pervez Ashraf had fully cooperated with NAB by joining in the probe.
“There is nothing against him. Pervez Ashraf had joined the investigation and nothing came out,” the top NAB official had said. With its track record of getting every person, who matters in the present ruling lot, off the hook either through friendly investigation and prosecution; the NAB even in RPPs’ case was expected to deliver as per the wishes of the political masters.
While deciding the RPPs case, the Supreme Court had directed the NAB to proceed against all the Government functionaries, including the Ministers for Water & Power holding charge in 2006 and onward and from 2008 to onward, during whose tenure the RPPs were approved/set up and Minister as well as Secretary Finance holding the charge when the down payment was increased from 7% to 14%, violated the principle of transparency.