Special Assistant Zafarullah moved to EAD

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Barrister Zafarullah Khan has been moved to the Economic Affairs Division (EAD), writes Tariq Butt.
“He has a special interest in political economy and preferred to be transferred the EAD,” a senior official told The News.
Previously, Zafarullah Khan was the special assistant for the cabinet division. Now, he will closely work with Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar, who is also in-charge of the EAD.
Because of his elaborate experience as a prominent practicing lawyer, Zafarullah Khan used to attend most meetings presided over by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on legal issues. He was also involved in political matters being discussed with other political parties. He was associated with the PML-N over a decade ago.
For having extensive knowledge of the Holy Quran, religion and Islamic history, Zafarullah Khan frequently speaks on them in the special programmes of the state broadcaster.
Before doing his bar-at-law from Britain, Zafarullah Khan was a civil servant in the district management group and served as deputy commissioner, assistant commissioner in different districts and deputy secretary to Shahbaz Sharif in his first stint as the Punjab chief minister.
His first induction in the government took place last year when he was made the federal law secretary. However, a tussle between him and Attorney General for Pakistan Salman Aslam Butt ended with this resignation in September.
PM Nawaz Sharif accepted his resignation and appointed him as the special assistant, asking him to work on the government’s reform agenda and expedite the legislative business.
It was stated that a cold war had gripped Butt and Zafarullah Khan over the appointment of law officers as well as others matters. The key differences revolved around the nomination of the law officers by the attorney general. Zafarullah Khan had expressed reservations about appointment of those who had been associated with the legal team of Pervez Musharraf in the high treason case.
Zafarullah Khan was unwilling to accept any amendment in the Rules of Business to get the attorney general’s office detached from the law ministry. He insisted that this office officially has been acting as an attached department of the law ministry since long.