Senior bureaucrats are no longer seeking top positions in ministries as they believe that the prime minister protects his ministers while making bureaucrats the scapegoat for a variety of crises. Officials told Business Recorder on condition of anonymity that with respect to the petrol crisis had the prime minister sent at least one minister packing, it would have helped the government tackle the issue on the political front by sending a strong message to other cabinet members that only competent ministers will survive.
The reluctance amongst senior bureaucrats to seek key appointments in powerful ministries visibly strengthened after suspension of three senior most officials of the Petroleum Ministry and one from PSO prior to the findings of an inquiry on the crisis. According to senior officials, ministers of Finance, Water and Power, Interior, Planning, Development and Reforms and Petroleum appreciate 'yes men' and any contrary opinion based on research or logic is simply not tolerated. Officials informed Business Recorder that second and third-tier officers have started looking for assignments in departments where they would not face major challenges that may land them in troubled waters.
The sources further revealed that some serving secretaries have requested Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to accept their resignations. During the recent fuel crisis in the country, three ministers - Ishaq Dar, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Khawaja Asif - as key members of the energy committee should have borne the responsibility for ensuring uninterrupted provision of fuel in the country. But the Prime Minister suspended five officers including Secretary Petroleum Abid Saeed, Additional Secretary Petroleum Naeem Malik, DG Oil C.M. Azam and Managing Director Pakistan State Oil (PSO) Amjad Janjua and PSO DMD Sohail Butt.
The sources said that Prime Minister's action gave the impression that the ministers have absolutely no control over officials in their ministries. The responsibility, the officials stated, should have been shared at the political level too. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has also suspended many senior officials during Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) sit-in at D-Chowk Islamabad, last year.
During this period two IGs and a senior superintendent of police (SSP) of Islamabad were removed and one SSP proceeded on leave after a reported disagreement with his superiors. One SP had to take charge as an SSP, and SP Traffic Asmatullah Junejo only managed half a day on the job before being injured in clashes with protesters on capital's Constitution Avenue. A total of eight officers were suspended over the Sikh issue, but Inspector Abdul Rehman was reinstated within a few days and appointed SHO Kohsar Police Station.