Peshawar mayor says not being given officials of choice, funds, powers

PESHAWAR: The chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa wants to form a bureaucratic team of his own choice but is reluctant to give the mayor his chosen team.

The Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ali Amin Gandapur, met Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif a few days back and requested him to give him his chosen chief secretary to run the province. The prime minister agreed and told him that he has the right to form his team to govern the province.

Similarly, in a meeting, Peshawar Mayor Haji Zubair Ali had requested the chief minister to give him a team of selected officials to run the local government. The CM assured him of support and promised to give him the team of his choice but did not issue any instructions to appoint any officer of the mayor’s choice.

When contacted, the mayor of Peshawar confirmed that he met the chief minister and requested him to change his DG and other officials but it had not been implemented yet. He said: “Like the chief minister, I have also been voted by the people of Peshawar but neither funds nor powers have been given.”

JUIF Information Secretary Jalil Jan told this correspondent that the PTI government has double standards. He said the CM wants officers of his own choice but does not want to give the authority to the mayor of Peshawar to form a team of his own choice, while both are public representatives. The mayor has received direct votes from the people of Peshawar.

The KP government spokesperson and Adviser Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif, in a video statement issued here on Sunday, said the federal government should feel its responsibility on the appointment of chief secretary. “It is the right of the chief minister to keep the team of his choice. Punjab, Sindh, and Balochistan have been given the chief secretaries of their choice. Why is Khyber Pakhtunkhwa not being given the chosen CS?”

When contacted, Saif, while supporting the demand of mayor Peshawar, said that he should also get a team of his choice. If the required officers are available, then the provincial government will not put any obstacle to it. He said that funds are also being released to local bodies.