Nomination of Atif Mian as EAC member withdrawn

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry said on Friday that the government has withdrawn nomination of Atif Mian as member of the Economic Advisory Council (EAC).In a tweet, the minister said the government wants to move forward taking along Ulema and all segments of the society, and if a different perception develops through a nomination, it is not right.

He said the state of Madina is the ideal of Prime Minister Imran Khan and the premier and his cabinet members love the Holy Prophet (SAW). The Minister said Khatm-e-Nabuwwat is part of Muslims’ faith, and the government’s recent success in connection with blasphemous sketches was part of this association.

Meanwhile, Dr Atif Mian, a professor at Princeton University and Woodrow Wilson School of Public Policy, said he was resigning because the government was facing pressure regarding his appointment.

In a post on his Twitter account, he said he was ready to serve Pakistan as it was the country he was raised in and loved a great deal. "Moving forward, I now hope and pray that the Economic Advisory Council is able to fulfil its mandate in the very best way so that the Pakistani people and nation can prosper and flourish," he tweeted.

Just minutes earlier, Dr Asim Ijaz Khawaja, a professor of International Finance and Development at the Harvard Kennedy School and a leading international economist of Pakistani origin, also stepped down from the EAC in protest after news of Atif Mian's resignation. "Have resigned from EAC. Painful, deeply sad decision,"Dr Asim said in a message on Twitter, adding that "ever ready to help" Pakistan.

Earlier the PTI Senator Faisal Javed in a tweet said Dr Atif Mian has agreed to step down. "Atif Mian was asked to step down from the Advisory Council and he has agreed," the PTI senator said. "A replacement would be announced later," he added. The Pakistani-American economist's appointment to the EAC had led to severe criticism of the government.