Press Release: Asif urged not to be a party in Deedar's reappointment.

The Concerned Citizens of Pakistan (CCP) Monday expressed its dismay at the government’s negative reaction to the recent Supreme Court decision nullifying the appointment of Justice ® Deedar Hussain Shah as NAB chairman.

In a press release, the CCP said that the indecent haste with which the government has sought to re-appoint him (Deedar) unfortunately confirms what sections of the press have termed as government’s efforts ‘to take on the Supreme Court.”

The pro-forma letter, which the government claims it has since sent to the leader of the opposition will not make up the deficiency in the consultative process. Justice Deedar’s re-appointment process should amounts to a new appointment, in respect of which the appointment process should begin afresh. His name should be put up, along with other candidates, as a basis for real and substantive consultation with the leader of the opposition, and he should be told why, despite the unfavorable Supreme Court ruling, Justice Deedar’s candidacy is being pressed again. The final decision should be made taking into account the views of the leader of the opposition, the CCP said.

The statement said that the President of Pakistan’s personal intervention on the side of Justice Deedar is unwarranted, and serves to exacerbate a dangerous state of affairs. The president’s pat financial dealings are under scrutiny by NAB. He is an interested party in the appointment of its chairman. By trying to push the case of his former party member and personal friend, no matter how distinguished his career as a judge, the president has placed himself in a position where his personal interests are likely to cloud his official judgment in the matter. Besides, his taking sides against the Supreme Court ruling in furtherance of a personal agenda will only serve to drive a wedge between branches of government, at a time when the country desperately needs state institutions to be united, not divided, in the face of the many challenges, present and future, threatening its integrity, it added.

The CCP urged the government to take immediate remedial measures. It condemned the incitement to violence resulting in loss of lives and damage to public property by the ruling party in Sindh as protests against the Supreme Court ruling, with threats that this will also be repeated in other provinces. Besides amounting to contempt of Court, it conveys the distinct impression that the government wants to precipitate chaos in the contry.

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