PESHAWAR: As the next crucial general elections are drawing closer, the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa caretaker government is either inefficient or weak enough by not appointing deputy commissioners to 17 districts despite a summary approval by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) almost a month ago.
According to documents seen by the Express Tribune, the incumbent Chief Secretary Nadeem Aslam Chaudhary has got ECP’s nod on June 26 to appoint administrative officers to districts.
Earlier in June, the provincial government had sent a summary to ECP to post several officers as deputy commissioners, departmental heads and District heads prior to elections for transparency.
Despite the ECP go-aheads, however, the interim government has been unable to issue the notification which is imperative for impartial electoral process.
According to a letter by establishment department addressed to ECP on June 16, “I’m directed to refer to the subject cited above and to state the competent authority (Chief Minister, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) has approved the transfer/postings of the officers as per details available.”
As per established procedure, officers are immediately posted to avoid any direct influence on electoral process once the ECP approved the NOC.
The establishment department’s letter further stated that “since the ECP on January 22 has imposed a ban on all kinds of posting/transfer within and to/from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa without prior approval of Election Commission of Pakistan, therefore, consent of the honorable ECP is solicited to allow this department to issue necessary posting/transfer notification of the officers in the best public interests, please.” However, the current KP government has failed to issue the notification for placement of officers.
Many officers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa bureaucracy are of the view that current Chief Secretary is using delaying tactics because he is is inefficient and too weak to take decisions and most of his decisions are dictated from other forums and burden usually shouldered by him. However, Chief Secretary Nadeem Aslam Chaudhary couldn’t be reached for comments on the issue despite repeated attempts.
Normally, officers are notified to assume charge as soon as NOC is provided by ECP but after a lapse of three weeks, the KP government failed to follow standard procedure of posting the officers prior to election.
They believe that chief secretary has been left helpless to exercise his constitutionally mandated powers to issue notification for appointment of officers because he is getting directions from the central government, which left the provincial government machinery in disarray.
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