Caretakers should stay within their mandate
Some of the measures taken by the caretaker prime minister have created misunderstandings between the political parties while they have also been criticized by the media. When nearly 20 major officials – including MDs and CEOs of major corporations – were transferred by PM Khoso, Shahbaz Sharif accused him of acting on the instructions of President Asif Zardari. This led presidential spokesman to rebuke Shahbaz for leveling baseless accusations against the symbol of the federation. The issue of transfers ultimately landed in the Supreme Court which issued a contempt notice to the interim PM for violating the apex court’s judgment in Anita Turab case. The transfers of high officials was criticized by the media on the ground that the caretaker setup had no mandate to do so in such vast numbers especially when they were in no position to influence the outcome of the elections.
Khoso’s ‘mini-budget’ summary recommending Rs152 billion in extra taxes has kicked up another controversy. Qamar Zaman Kaira has called it an “unconstitutional” step at the behest of “someone”. He has argued that only a parliament elected by the people of Pakistan can levy taxes including the GST which can only be imposed in consultation with the provincial governments and the Council of Common Interests. According to Kaira, the summary which has been rejected by the president is “tantamount to crossing the limits set by the constitution.” Another newspaper report tells about pressure being avowedly exerted by the caretaker PM’s office on Dr Sania Nishter, who also has the charge of ministry of Professional Training and Education, to withdraw a notification of devolution of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center (JPMC) from the federal government to the Sindh government. According to the report Dr Nishter had also expressed her irritation when the prime minister transferred the then secretary of information technology without prior knowledge of the minister and an officer on special duty (OSD) was appointed as secretary information technology. The JPMC was devolved in year 2012 under the 18th constitutional amendment. One is yet to see the caretaker government’s version regarding the report. But in case there is any truth in withdrawing the devolution of JPMC to Sindh government, this should be no business of the caretaker setup.
One does not understand what motivated the caretaker government to take decisions that are being criticized in the media and by the political parties. The best way to remain uncontroversial was to leave issues like transfers, devolution of the JPMC and what is being referred to as a ‘mini budget’ to the next government which is poised to take over by the first week of June.
