Dawn Leaks: PM Nawaz chairs special meeting of aides

LAHORE: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif chaired a meeting of close aides at his Lahore's Rawind Palace to discuss issues related to Dawn Leaks inquiry report.

According to the sources, Senator Ishaq Dar, Interior Minister Chaudry Nisar and Fawad Hassan Fawad Principal Secretary to PM traveled to Lahore in a special plane to attend the huddle, which the prime minster chaired to deliberate upon the situation arising out of the controversy over the Dawn Leaks report.

Following the meeting, Maryam Nawaz tweeted, “All statements being attributed to PM on media after the consultative meeting are incorrect. No one has been assigned any task by the PM.”

All statements being attributed to PM on media after the consultative meeting are incorrect. No one has been assigned any task by the PM.

— Maryam Nawaz Sharif (@MaryamNSharif) April 30, 2017

Before the meeting, Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif met the prime minister and discussed the current national and political issues, they said.

The Pakistan Army had expressed anger at the government order for implementation of recommendations of the Dawn Leaks inquiry committee, terming it incomplete and not in line with the recommendations of the inquiry committee, a few minutes after its release by the Prime Minister's House on Saturday.

“The notification on the Leaks is incomplete and not in line with recommendations of the inquiry board. Notification is rejected,” Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Asif Ghafoor said in a tweeted response.

Notification on Dawn Leak is incomplete and not in line with recommendations by the Inquiry Board. Notification is rejected.

— Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor (@OfficialDGISPR) April 29, 2017

The notification issued with signatures of Principal Secretary to the PM Fawad Hasan Fawad said the prime minister has directed for action against the Principal Information Officer (PIO) Rao Tahsin Ali under Efficiency and Discipline (E&D) Rules 1973 and withdrawal of allocation of portfolio of the Foreign Affairs from Tariq Fatemi, Special Assistant to the PM. Under E&D Rules 1973, major penalties include removal or dismissal from service or reduction in ranks if an official is found guilty of releasing official secrets.

Following the prime minister’s directives, the Establishment Division also issued a notification removing Rao Tehsin as the PIO with directions to report to the division.

The notification said the prime minister having considered the findings of the committee as to its terms of reference is pleased to approve the recommendations in para 18 of the report.

The government on November 7 formed a seven-member committee, headed by a retired judge Aamer Raza Khan, to probe the release of the controversial news story. The committee was also tasked to inquire into the circumstances of the alleged leak and establish the identity of those responsible. The inquiry committee was supposed to submit its report within 30 days. However, later on it was given further extension to submit its recommendations.

The Interior Minister was in Karachi when all this was happening and held a press conference at the Governor House to explain the government’s point of view.

While maintaining that tweets are fatally damaging for the process of democracy and justice, he said that no responsible person would be spared and no such effort would be made in the Leaks issue.

“In case institutions start addressing each other through tweets, then in my view it will be fatally damaging to democracy and justice as institutions should maintain normal mutual relations,” said the minister.

The minister said that correspondence issued by the PM House was not "the much-expected notification on the basis of inquiry report on the Leaks issue" as it was the job of Interior Ministry to issue the notification and the ministry would do so in this case. He said that correspondence made by the PM Office would be sent to the Interior Ministry, which would issue the notification on the basis of this correspondence.

“When there is no notification issued, then God knows why there is so much commotion on this issue,” he wondered. He said the Interior Ministry would issue the notification fully in accordance with the recommendations of the inquiry committee on the Leaks issue.

Nisar said he was going to Islamabad in order to review the issue and afterwards he would further talk on the matter. He said he had been chairing a meeting on security issues at the Rangers’ Headquarters and when he came out of the meeting, he was informed that a notification was issued by the PM House and afterwards commotion started on the issue. “In this regard, I want to make a clarification to the media that just before my visit of Karachi, I had submitted the inquiry report on the Leaks to the prime minister, who told me that the inquiry report on the Leaks would be completely acted upon,” he said.

Nisar said he was advised to cancel his press conference in Karachi owing to the Leaks issue but he responded to the suggestion that cancellation of the press conference would not send any good message. The minister said that once back in Islamabad, he would request the prime minister to visit Karachi to once again convene a joint meeting in the city of the civil and military leadership to review security affairs and to accelerate the pace of ongoing targeted operation there in order to take it to a logical conclusion.