The unprecedented bureaucratic reshuffle undertaken in Punjab put pressure on the federal interim government and other provinces to shuffle key position holders.
However, no administrative changes have been made in Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Balochistan, Islamabad Capital Territory and key ministries of the federal government.
The Establishment Division is still manned by bureaucrats generally considered to be blue eyed boys of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q).
Similarly, federal secretaries for information, interior and cabinet and heads of National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), Pakistan Electronic Media Authority (PEMRA), Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV) and Radio Pakistan who have a pivotal role in the elections remain unchanged.
Not a single change was made in the Prime Minister Secretariat giving the impression that the present set up was an extension of the previous PPP regime. Many of these PPP appointees blatantly keep on posting messages and statements on the social media in support of their PPP employers.
In the three provinces, earlier, ruled by the PPP and its coalition partners, chief secretaries, IGPs, home secretaries, finance secretaries, principal secretaries to the chief ministers and additional chief secretaries remain unchanged.
Senior civil servants working in Islamabad have offered their insight. According to them, there is a clear method in recent transfers and postings of highest level.
Rao Iftikhar, who had been posted as additional chief secretary in Punjab, has assumed a role more important than even the well-reputed Chief Secretary Javed Iqbal. Although Iftikhar was formally posted a day ago, he had practically taken over the Punjab civil secretariat for the last four days, without any formal order by federal or provincial government, an insider told a local newspaper. Iftikhar gained prominence when he was posted by PPP-PML-Q government as Punjab home secretary during the Governor Rule, to lead the effort to block the long march. Before that, he was removed by then Punjab chief minister as food secretary. Iftikhar was the district coordination officer (DCO) of Gujrat for many years when Chaudhry Parvaiz Elahi was the chief minister.
The caretakers opted for Amjad Bhatti as public relations director general, which is an extremely important position. He was public relations officer of Chief Minister Parvaiz Elahi from 2002 to 2007. Now, he sits in a room adjacent to caretaker chief minister’s office at 7 Club Road Lahore, the official secretariat of the chief minister.
Noorul Amin Mengal, who was the first Baloch officer in Pakistan’s history to be head of district administration in Lahore, was removed. The reason cited was that he had worked as staff officer to Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. However, he was replaced by Syed Rizwan Mahboob, who until recently was working as personal staff officer to former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Asharaf. His father-in-law, Sessions Judge (R) Rafique Shah works in the Presidency and is known for his connections with a prominent political family of the PML-Q.
The new Lahore Commissioner Naseem Nawaz was made the DCO Lahore during the five-week long governor rule. CCPO Lahore Khaliqdad Luk is the brother-in-law of former PML-Q MNA and its present National Assembly candidate from Bhalwal Ghais Mela. However, the massive changes in Punjab failed to touch Health Secretary Arif Nadeem although his sister, Dr Yasmeen Rashid, who is a Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader, is contesting elections from NA-120 Lahore against PML-N President Nawaz Sharif. Similarly Finance Secretary Tariq Bajwa, who worked with Shahbaz Sharif for three years, has not been shifted although his wife has been a PML-Q MNA, and his brother-in-law is contesting elections from Wazirabad on the PTI ticket.
The slot of the Local Government secretary has been given to Ali Raza Bhutta, a DMG officer, who was removed from Punjab for failing to successfully deliver the land computerization project. He has close links with Rao Iftikhar.
Sohail Ahmad, a senior DMG officer, who had been posted as Planning and Development chairman, was appointed on the same position during the Governor rule. He was finance secretary of former chief minister Parvaiz Elahi.
