ISLAMABAD, Sept 28: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khurshid Shah are set to have another meeting soon after Mr Sharif’s return from the US in an effort to break deadlock over the appointment of chairman of the National Accountability Bureau.

Sources said that Finance Minster Ishaq Dar called the opposition leader from New York and told him that the prime minister wanted to have a meeting with him after his return to the country on Oct 1.

Mr Dar, the sources said, told Mr Shah that the meeting could take place on Oct 2 or 3.

During his last meeting with Mr Shah on Sept 21, Mr Sharif had rejected the name of opposition’s nominee retired Justice Mian Mohammad Ajmal and proposed the name of retired Justice Ejaz Ahmed Chaudhry for the office of the NAB chief.

After that meeting, the opposition leader had told reporters that the prime minister had proposed the name of Justice Ejaz and that he had told Mr Sharif that he would respond to the government’s proposal after consultations with legal experts and party leadership.

The sources said the prime minister had objected to Justice Ajmal’s name on the ground that he was the law secretary when Gen Pervez Musharraf imposed emergency in the country and deposed judges on Nov 3, 2007.

On the other hand, Justice Ejaz was among those judges of the Supreme Court who had been restored along with Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in 2009.

Justice Ejaz retired in 2010 and was later appointed as member of the Judicial Commission by the chief justice.

Sources in the PPP said the party had decided to oppose the nomination of Justice Ejaz and would press for the appointment of Justice Ajmal.

They said Mr Shah would inform Mr Sharif that it was true that Justice Ajmal was law secretary at the time of the imposition of emergency but he had refused to sign the summary for deposition of judges.

The sources said the PPP had some information about “connections” between Justice Ejaz and the PML-N.

The government had initially proposed the names of retired Justice Rehmat Hussain Jaffery and former federal secretary Khwaja Zaheer Ahmed whereas the opposition had suggested the names of retired Justice Bhagwandas and retired Justice Sardar Raza.

After rejection of all the four names by both sides, the names of Justice Ajmal and Justice Ejaz are now under consideration. According to the sources in the two parties, a possibility of proposing new names by the two sides in the next meeting could not be ruled out.

On Sept 13, the Supreme Court had noted that major operations of NAB had come to a halt in the absence of its chairman and asked the government to make the appointment soon or get ready to face the consequences.

The government sought time till Sept 20.

NAB chief retired Admiral Fasih Bokhari was removed by the Supreme Court on May 28, after declaring his appointment illegal on a petition of then opposition leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.

The sources in the PPP said the opposition leader had planned to discuss other issues of national importance, particularly the situation after the all-party conference, in his meeting with the prime minister.

PEACE TALKS: Meanwhile, the opposition leader said in a statement on Saturday that terrorists were least interested in peace negotiations.

“It appears that our wish to sit and settle is just a one-sided and wishful thinking and terrorists have no regard for a consensus message of peace talks,” he said.

Mr Shah said the PPP had extended unconditional cooperation to the government on all matters of national interest and now it was the duty of the government to come up with people’s expectations because they could not wait for 100 months after 100 days of “lacking performance”.

He said it should also be a matter of concern for Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan that his philosophy of negotiations for peace had badly failed.

The PTI-ruled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was the worst hit province since the decision to hold talks with the militants had been taken, he said.