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Imran orders Zartaj to withdraw letter for sister’s Nacta job

By Newsdesk
June 03, 2019

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has ordered Minister of State for Climate Change Zartaj Gul Wazir to withdraw her letter to Nacta seeking an appointment for her sister, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Naeemul Haque revealed.

In a post on Twitter, Haque said: “The PM has directed that Zartaj Gul should withdraw her letter written to Nacta regarding the appointment of her sister. This was against the ethics of PTI which has always opposed nepotism. No one in the PTI govt can promote their relatives/friends by using their positions.”

According to reports, a day earlier the federal government had appointed Gul’s sister, Shabnam Gul, as a director of Nacta. Gul’s Principal Staff Officer Sami-ul-Haq wrote a letter to the secretary interior on February 27, 2019, stating: “I am directed to refer to your telephonic conversation with Ms Zartaj Gul, Minister of State for Climate, regarding the appointment of Ms Shabnam Gul in Nacta. The CV of Ms Shabnam Gul is attached herewith for further necessary action please.”

The government’s move was widely criticised on social media. While responding to a tweet, Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry said Shabnam Gul has a “PhD in [counter] terrorism and FATA, and selected after interviews”.

However, Nacta did offer a clarification in this regard, saying it received a total of 12 requests from employees of different federal and provincial government departments working in BS 17 to 19 for posting in Nacta on deputation basis.

“Ms Shabnam Gul was one of the selected candidates. The committee recommended her purely on merit for posting against one of the vacant posts of directors as she is already working in BS-19,” it clarified.