“Appointing an acting head of an institution gives the appointer time to…to…”
“Well our history shows that an acting charge ensures an extremely pliable appointee who develops a healthy and natural ambition to fill the position rather than to revert to his earlier lower position…”
“I was going to say it allows the appointer time to select the right man or woman for the job.”
“Hmmmm, so you reckon time maybe of the essence…”
“In some cases where…where…”
“You have to go out of the institution to look for a replacement of the outgoing head?”
“Precisely.”
“So one question: are you in favour or not in favour of an acting head?”
“I am not sure what an acting head is empowered to do.”
“The acting governor of the State Bank of Pakistan was empowered to sign off on the seventh/eight review with the International Monetary Fund on behalf of all the people of this country and…”
“I didn’t appreciate that either, I mean the pledges he made together with the finance minister would have to be borne by us, the people of this country…”
“Don’t get emotional, I am concerned the King of Indifference (KoI) to the people of this country, Hafeez Sheikh’s presence in the country more than the time allowed making him eligible to taxes here…”
“Don’t be facetious anyway whenever Caretakers are mentioned his name is coming up but I would like to caution the public not to confuse KoI with Letter of Intent (LoI) that the economic team leaders sign pledging conditions that are going to break the camel’s back…”
“The camel?”
“Really that caught your attention!”
“Anyway so my question is can the government appoint an acting chief…”
“Chief what? Chief Chef? Chief Hiawatha?”
“Excuse me”
“Hiawatha was a Red Indian, Iroquois Indian, lived in pre-colonial times and is famous for uniting five Nations (Indian) – Seneca, Cayunga, Onondaga, Oneida and Mohawk – into a political confederacy.”
“Indian as in Modi Indians?”
“The Khan is right — merit is kinda missing.”
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022