On the new AG
The PPP, no stranger to controversial appointments, has stirred the hornet’s nest again by appointing Akhtar Buland Rana as Auditor General. Nobody expected Ch Nisar to take the contentious choice silently and he has not. He has called it an attempt to neuter the PAC and has said that he will have none of it while dissolving all of the PAC’s committees.
No key appointment is without its detractors but people flaying the choice do have valid points here. The erstwhile AG was eased unceremoniously out of his position a year ahead of his retirement date. Mr Rana, too, was promoted with a year left in his service in Grade 21. Procedural hitches aside, Mr Rana allegedly has two CNICs, three passports and charges of harassment (of which he has been exonerated) on his resume. Even if these charges are not of the most veritable kind, the AG is an office which is responsible for national accountability and transparency; it is only right that the reputation of the respected AG should be clean, if not squeaky clean.
It’s true that the government was well within its constitutional right to appoint an AG of its own choice but it was also well within its right to not appoint a member of the opposition as the head honcho in the PAC. But, it chose to do so. There is the law and then there is how things are done. This appointment, if not strictly in contravention of the letter of the law, was in contravention of the spirit of national ‘reconciliation’ – the endless refrain of the ruling party. It should have consulted the leader of the PAC in good faith.
The PPP is already in the doghouse on the count of curbing corruption. It hasn’t been quite the good guy where the entire ‘showdown with the SC’ was concerned. The PPP isn’t viewed favourably either with respect to key appointments. The public largely views the administration as outfitted with incompetent blue-eyed boys of the president and the PM. This will further strengthen such perceptions. The PPP would do well to assess whether it’s worth it to have a friendly face in the AGP to jeopardise its public image. Corruption is an au courant issue right now and the PPP has far from a clean sheet. It shouldn’t give the opposition more ammo for salvos against it.
The government should keep due procedure in mind when making such appointments. The AG is a position that deserves someone selected on merit.
