ISLAMABAD: Three contenders – considered ‘close’ to the outgoing government’ – have emerged the hot favourite for the slot of the deputy commissioner (DC) in Islamabad.
PSO to prime minister Muhammad Ali, former Assistant Commissioner (AC) Asim Ayub and Establishment Division Deputy Secretary Hamza Shafqat are among the top three names considered for the important slot, according to sources.
The Establishment Division with the approval of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will notify the one among the three in the coming week as sources said that the Interior Ministry had sent the case to the division for further process.
The sources said that the government should appoint those officer as the deputy commissioner who has not served in ICT for the last three to five years at least or who has never served in ICT. Recently, Muhammad Ali is posted as PSO to the prime minister and until now working as the finance director in ICT admin.
In addition to this, Asim Ayub currently working in ICT admin as the finance director and previously has worked as the assistant commissioner, while Hamza Shafqat previously worked twice in ICT once as the director for civil defence and later as admin director. He is now working as the deputy secretary at the Establishment Division.
The sources said that all three officers were close to the outgoing government and the caretaker government should look into this perspective. It is pertinent to mention here that the caretaker prime minister with the consultation of the chief minister of the provinces has made a reshuffling in bureaucracy to ensure free and fair election.
The caretaker government has reshuffled the chief secretaries, IGs, commissioners, DCs, senior police officers but the seat of the Islamabad deputy commissioner is still vacant despite making all these arrangements. Presently, Mushtaq Ahmed, a retired army captain, is serving as the deputy commissioner of the federal capital.
