The Sindh government on Wednesday appointed Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)-Sindh Women Wing Information Secretary Sharmila Farooqi as the Adviser to Sindh Chief Minister on Media.
According to official sources however, Farooqi will not oversee the Sindh Information Department currently headed by PPP’s MPA Sharjeel Inam Memon and will unofficially serve as the spokesperson of President Asif Ali Zardari, during his engagements in Karachi.
They said the decision regarding her appointment was made under President Zardari’s instructions, issued on the last day of his recent stay in Karachi, as the PPP co-chairman was discontented with the media coverage of his engagements in the city.
Farooqi is the daughter of Usman Farooqi, who was a bureaucrat and former chairman of Pakistan Steel Mills and the maternal granddaughter of renowned politician NM Uqaili.
She is the nephew of president’s secretary Salman Farooqi and has previously served as the Adviser to Chief Minister on Information and Archives. PPP’s senior leader Taj Haider replaced her at the office but he was soon removed and Memon appointed as the minister for the department.
After Sharmila’s induction as one of the advisers, the provincial government will appoint Rashid Rabbani as Special Assistant to the Chief Minister. Currently, he is one of the five Chief Minister’s advisers and the government will have to remove him due to the constitutional compulsion of not keeping more than five advisers at a time. Rabbani, however, will continue to see political affairs.
