Major reshuffle in federal bureaucracy ahead of polls

ISLAMABAD: With less than one month left to the general elections, the government has made a major reshuffle in the senior bureaucracy against key posts.

Following the reshuffle, which also enjoys a nod of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Federal Secretary Interior Arshad Mirza has been appointed as Secretary Information, while Secretary Energy Yousuf Naseem has been posted as Secretary Interior.

Ex-chief secretary Balochistan Aurengzeb Haq has been appointed Federal Secretary Establishment in place of Maroof Afzal, who has been transferred to the Ministry of Industries and Production.

In another reshuffle, Tariq Mahmood Pasha, a BPS-22 officer of Inland Revenue Service, who was serving as Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), has been posted as Secretary Statistics Division with effect from July 01.

Federal Secretary Statistics Division Rukhsana Yasmin has been appointed as new FBR Chairperson. Director General Passports Ishrat Ali has been appointed as the new Chairman of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) with immediate effect.

Captain (R) Arif Nawaz Khan, who was an OSD, has been posted as Secretary Narcotics Control Division in place of Squadron Leader (retd) Iqbal Muhammad. Dr Sultan Azam Teimuri, a BPS-21 officer of Police Service, has been posted as Member National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta), while Sabir Ahmad, a BPS-20 officer of Police, who was serving as Inspector General Police Gilgit-Baltistan, was made an OSD.

Another BPS-21 officer of Police Service Sanaullah Abbasi, who was serving under the Sindh government, has been appointed as new Inspector General Police Gilgit-Baltistan. A BPS-22 officer of Secretariat Group Muhammad Ayub Shaikh, who was an OSD, has been given the charge of Secretary Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Division.

Another officer Ehsan Ghani, who was heading Nacta, is likely to be appointed as Director General Intelligence Bureau in place of Dr Suleman Khan, a BPS-22 officer of the Police Service. Dr Suleman was appointed head of the civilian intelligence agency in the first week of the last month by the PML-N government.

Agencies add: The local bodies representatives have been barred from taking part in the election campaign. The Punjab caretaker government on Tuesday directed local bodies representatives to refrain from taking part in election campaign 2018.

According to a notification, the provincial government said, participation of the representatives in election campaign would be a violation of the code of conduct of the Election Commission of Pakistan. "Legal action will be taken against those who violate the ECP code of conduct," the notification added.

The caretaker set-up also barred the district councillors, municipal committee members and UC chairmen from taking part in any political activity or election campaign for general election 2018. The notification stated the ban had been imposed to ensure transparent and impartial polls.