ISLAMABAD: After resignation of the chairman of the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra), many in the ruling party have started lobbying for the coveted slot.

The post is lucrative both in terms of remuneration and as a repository of data on national identity card and passport holders. Former chairman Tariq Malik drew a monthly salary of Rs842,000.

Talking to media persons on Sunday evening, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said the newly constituted Nadra board would meet on Jan 15 and decide about the future head of the authority. However, he didn’t explain whether the vacancy would be advertised in the media or filled just as the government had done in the cases of chairmen of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) and Pakistan Baitul Maal (PBM).

Administratively, Nadra falls under the interior ministry.

According to quarters close to top PML-N leaders, soon after news of the former chairman’s resignation surfaced, potential candidates moved their well-placed contacts who could help them land the chairmanship of Nadra.

A senior official of the Punjab Information Technology Board, whose family wields influence with the Sharif brothers, has already shown his interest in the post, the sources said. He also visited Islamabad last week to weigh up his chances.

“The official has been playing a key role in planning and development of the IT sector in the province, notably setting up a university.

To me he appears to be the frontrunner,” a PML-N office-bearer said.

A retired brigadier has also staked claim to the prized position on the basis of his contacts within the ruling party.

The sources said Chaudhry Nisar was in favour of promoting someone from within Nadra, but the decision would be made by the prime minister.

The government has made political appointments both in the BISP and PBM. Former PPP senator Enver Baig who later joined the PML-N was chosen by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to run the BISP, and another entrant to the party, Barrister Abid Waheed Sheikh, was picked to run the PBM.

A ruling party lawmaker said there were more chances of a political appointment even if applications of candidates were processed at a forum such as the Nadra board of directors. He said the government would not take the risk of involving a special commission it had set up to select chief executive officers of public sector organisations.

The appointment will be closely watched by the media and judiciary because of Mr Malik’s controversial exit.

The Islamabad High Court has reserved its judgment on a petition filed by the former chairman after he was removed in the first week of December.

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has announced that the appointment would be strongly protested if the government tried to make it on a political basis.

The party was at the forefront in denouncing the government when it unceremoniously sacked Mr Malik. Not only a delegation of PTI leaders called on the former chairman after he decided to contest his removal, the party’s chief Imran Khan raised the issue in the National Assembly.