Political consensus is constitutional requirement, not ‘Mukmuka’ If he is a yes man, where are the scandals? Government representative defends career bureaucrat Zaman

ISLAMABAD: The government sources and friends of Qamar Zaman have defended the incumbent secretary interior as the choice for the chairman NAB. “Everyone has been part of one government or the other. And because the PPP and PML-N are the biggest parties and the ones in power the most, it is not fair to disqualify someone just because they were part of those governments.” They also pointed to the long list of positions held by Zaman whom they describe as a professional career bureaucrat holding diverse positions: chief Secretary Northern Areas; federal education secretary; and commissioner Lahore besides interior secretary. Sources also said, “It is wrong that Qamar Zaman is a yes man and if this was true, then many scandals related to him would emerge in his long service. How come there is not a single case of corruption that has come up against Qamar Zaman?” They said that there is an independent media and independent judiciary and nothing can remain hidden.A source inside the information ministry defended him by can be very dangerous to the democratic foundations of the country. We need a person who follows rule of law and does not become rule of law himself.” He added that getting an angle for chairman NAB is not possible or practical. A friend of Zaman also went on to say that perception of Zaman being timid or dependent is also not an indicator of what he may be in the future as there are many examples where perceptions are proven wrong with time. “There are also examples like Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry who was appointed by Musharraf yet he proved to be the one who taught a country of yes men how to say no.” Sources reveal that new chairman NAB, Chaudhry Qamar Zaman first found out about his appointment through a Geo News ticker and only after that he got a call from the PM. Before that no one discussed the topic of chairman NAB appointment with him and thus a pre-deal between political parties and him is a false accusation. Defenders of new chairman NAB also claim that the appointment has been done as per rule of law and that political unity in appointment between Government and Opposition is constitutional requirement and shouldn’t be taken as political rigging. Rumors about his daughter being an N-League MPA is also not true. However one of his nieces has married in a political family in 1999 and she now has a seat from N league. In 2009, Qamar Zaman, then Interior Secretary under the PPP government, was suspended by PM Gilani for having Ahmed Mukhtar’s name on exit control list, as he was an NRO beneficiary. It is interesting to note that PTI protested in favor of Qamar Zaman at that time though now they maybe going to Supreme Court against the Chairman NAB appointment. Qamar Zaman was also one of the six people who simultaneously got a contempt notice from Supreme Court when investigation officer for NICL corruption case, Zafar Qureshi, was transfered upsetting the Supreme Court. Immediately after that Zaman reinstated Zafar Qureshi but then ended up losing his job as he lostfavor from the PPP government for listening to the Supreme Court. Sources close to Zaman say that he would like even his friends not to defend hisneutrality and dedication to the country and rule of law, and that let thefuture work in his tenure speak for itself instead.