Senior bureaucrats regard any further reshuffling within their ranks after the general elections "unnecessary" and beyond the mandate of the caretaker government, an official of the Establishment Division told Business Recorder on Friday.
Recent termination of the services of managing directors of gas utilities - Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) - has become the focus of discussions amongst sitting bureaucrats and the consensus amongst senior bureaucrats is that the caretaker government is stepping beyond its mandate, the official maintained.
Citing the case of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, the official said that senior bureaucrats have noted with concern that on occasion, the caretaker government fully realised its limited mandate, and it unhesitatingly refers to it in Musharraf's trial, and on other occasions it ignores its mandate and exceeds it. The caretakers have the mandate to hold free, fair and transparent elections in the country, and the termination or transfer of bureaucrats does not fall within the ambit of their mandate, he added.
The official maintained that termination of services of top officials working in government and semi-government institutions was being carried out in haste when caretakers had less than two weeks in power.
An ECP official stated that caretakers had the mandate to run the federal government as they deem appropriate and can terminate, transfer and recruit new staff, following the laid down criteria till the new cabinet is sworn in. He said that the caretakers' role was not limited to holding free and fair elections and they had the mandate to look after the business of government. According to information obtained by Business Recorder, the service contracts of the majority of officers who had been removed from their positions had expired.
Meanwhile, sources told Business Recorder that the caretaker government is also planning to terminate the services of some other senior officials working at public sector oil and gas firms before the transfer of power to the new government. The sacked officials, reportedly, have begun complaining that they are unaware of the grounds for their un-ceremonial termination of services by the caretaker government.
A former secretary of the ECP maintained that recent changes in the top bureaucracy could be delayed till the transfer of power to the newly-elected government as the new government would make these important changes as per its own vision and agenda. He said that caretakers had taken some decisions with the consent of the ECP before the general elections 2013, including the transfers and appointments of chief secretaries and inspectors-general in provinces regarded as necessary to hold free, fair and transparent elections across the country.
The Establishment Division on Friday appointed Habibullah Khattak as Secretary Ministry of Religious Affairs. Director-General of Intelligence Bureau (IB) Abdul Wadood Shah has been appointed Member Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC). Mughal Ali and Tahmoor Tajamal have been appointed as Director General, Presidency. Recent changes include: Chairman Nepra was removed on May 15 and Ahmed Lashari was appointed as the new chairman, Khalid Kokhar removed as the MD of Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation on May 14 and replaced by Saifullah Khan. The Managing Director (MD) of SNGPL, Arif Hameed, and SSGC MD Zuhair Siddiqui were terminated after general elections. Hamid Ali Khan was removed as Chairman of NHA on May 15.
In the first week of May, the caretaker prime minister terminated contracts of top officials, including Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Dr Nadeemul Haq, State Life Insurance Company's Chairman Shahid Aziz Siddqui, Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) Director-General Murtaza Solangi, Alternate Energy Development Board Chief Executive Arif Alauddin and National Fertiliser Marketing Limited Managing Director Tariq Shafi Khan. A retired Cabinet Secretary said that the unceremonious manner in which senior bureaucrats had been removed was "extremely unfortunate".