LAHORE: The seat of Punjab Police IG is becoming subject to political patronage, as a suitable candidate to take the position has not been found yet.
Despite directions of senior judiciary, the government has been unable to appoint a new IG. Whereas, Additional IG Captain (Retd) Arif Nawaz, despite being on merit and having seniority, seems to be out of the race, with respect to selection for the post. According to sources, Punjab CM considers Arif Nawaz to not possess the desired level of decision-making skills which is why is presently a hurdle to his appointment.
On the other hand, CCPO Captain (Retd) Ameen Vaince, despite being favoured by a close relative of Punjab CM, failed to be appointed as the Punjab IG because the federal government has reservations over his candidacy due to his close relations with the representatives of media.
Sources have also revealed about Additional IG Faisal Shahkar, that his aggressive approach to work and insistence on merit has been against him because he does not approve of any political pressures while pursuing merit-based investigation. Whereas, Additional IG is blamed to have been favoured by the father-in-law of Maryam Nawaz, which is why he seems to be out of the race as well.
Further, because of the incompetence of Punjab government, Captain (Retd) Usman Khattak is still performing duties as the Punjab IG.
The appointment of a new IG is expected by next week.
