Ministry of Commerce (MoC) is likely to eschew its commitment submitted to the Islamabad High Court (IHC) by extending the tenure of three politically-appointed trade officers at Brussels, Santiago and Prague due to immense political pressure.
During the last hearing of the petition, Noman Aslam versus the Federation, filed by 64 CSS qualified officers of the Commerce and Trade Group challenging the appointment of 3 private sector individuals as trade officers' Babar Awan, lawyer for the federation had contended that the subject matter of the petition had become fructuous due to time factor since the two year tenure of three trade officers was almost complete and the Ministry had no intention of giving an extension to them.
Ms Ayesha Saeed daughter of Senator Gulshan Saeed, a member of Standing Committee of Senate on Commerce, Shahryar Talpur, son of Nawab Abdul Ghani Talpur, MNA and a member of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly on Commerce and Ms Nadia Rehman, daughter of Khalid Rehman, former Manager Duty Free Shops and a close friend of Ahmed Mukhtar, Minister for Defence were selected for the coveted posts of trade officers at Santiago, Brussels and Prague respectively despite the fact that they do not belong to any service group of the federation and had no prior relevant experience in Government.
Prime Minister, Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani had forwarded these names to the Commerce Ministry for appointment as trade officers abroad. Former Secretary Commerce, Suleman Ghani did not resist the move and issued appointment letters by violating the prescribed criteria of Commerce Ministry for the selection of trade officers for posting abroad.
Senator Gulshan Saeed is allegedly using her influence on the Ministry of Commerce to extend the tenure of her daughter, Ms Ayesha Saeed, Pakistan's trade officer at Brussels, despite resistance from her Ambassador.
Pakistan Ambassador to Belgium, Jalil Abbas Jilani, sources said, has written a strongly worded letter against Ayesha Saeed to the Commerce Ministry, raising queries about her role in trade promotion in Brussels. Shahryar Talpur, Pakistan's trade officer at Santiago is making an all-out effort through his father to get his tenure extended despite an unambiguous contrary recommendation from the Ambassador. Nawab Ghani Talpur, during the last meeting of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly on Commerce, confronted the Secretary Commerce directly and "accused" him of not facilitating the extension of the tenure of his son, despite clear directions from the Minister for Commerce.
The sources said Commerce Ministry is considering sending a summary to the Prime Minister for extension in tenure of Sheheryar Talpur despite the fact that his performance was unsatisfactory during his stay in Santiago. The third politically appointed officer, Ms Nadia Rehman has spent only eight months at Prague out of a total tenure of two years, which she has already completed. She came back to Pakistan on the pretext of defending her appointment in the case of Noman Aslam and others Vs the Federation. During her stay of over a year and a half, she got married and is now a parent as well.
The selection process of trade officers is already stalled due to another writ petition by Commerce and Trade group officers for the implementation of their group's 50% designated quota for posts of trade officers abroad. The said process is likely to be delayed further if the Ministry decides to extend the tenure of these political appointees as it would give fresh reasons to the aggrieved officers of the Commerce and Trade Group to enter into further litigation.
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