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So much for merit, Mr prime minister
http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=190530
Spokesman says transparent appointment procedure followed
Thursday, July 30, 2009
By Ansar Abbasi
ISLAMABAD: Of late, Prime Minister Gilani has been exuding confidence and talking ad nauseum about establishing the writ of merit and good governance but when it comes to making the critical appointment of the chairman Ogra, it is bye bye merit and hello political nepotism. The handpicked man is none other than the brother-in-law of PPP Secretary General Jehangir Badar.
To be fair, being the brother-in-law of the ruling party secretary general does not bar Tauqir Sadiq from a legitimate posting but ironically the same gentleman was rejected by Prime Minister Gilani in the past. But now, for inexplicable reasons, he has been preferred over two other highly-qualified candidates. It was also revealed to The News that the newly-appointed chairman Ogra boasts an LLM degree from a UK university, which is not even accredited and has been even fined for deceptively representing itself as a university despite lacking proper accreditation.
The prime ministers spokesman, Imran Gardezi, however, insisted that the appointment was made on merit and without any political consideration. Gardezi said that had it been in the knowledge of the prime minister that the new Ogra chairman was related to Jehangir Badar, it would have actually served as a disadvantage for the official. He went on to add that the panel recommended to the prime minister contained only three names and the top two were dropped for the simple reason that one had already retired from the government service while the other was on the verge of retirement, thus leaving no option for Gilani to pick up the third one for the post.
Regarding the controversy surrounding the institution from where the chairman Ogra did his LLM, the spokesman said that the prime minister was not in the knowledge of any such thing and assured that such issues could be verified and if found true the decision could be reviewed.
Contrary to what Gardezi claims, the post of the Ogra chairman, like any other top executive position of any other regulation authority, is not meant for the serving government officers only. Instead, the Cabinet Division, through an open advertisement, sought applications from the general public, including serving and retired government servants, for the post, which requires 20 years of experience in finance, administration, law, policy planning and management.
According to sources, a committee, headed by minister for water and power, interviewed the short-listed candidates and initially recommended a panel of three Tauqir Sadiq, a retired secretary Ejaz Qureshi and another government servant and the then acting chairman Ogra Rashid Farooq.
The panel was forwarded to the prime minister for appointment but Gilani did not approve any of the three names and returned the file to the Cabinet Division with the direction that a fresh panel should be forwarded to him.
The sources said that the prime minister did not find any of the three fit for the post. Fresh applications were sought, received applications were short-listed and interviews were conducted by the committee. From amongst the three candidates previously recommended, no one applied this time, except Tauqir, who was already rejected by the prime minister.
In the second attempt, a panel of four candidates was sent to the prime minister. The panel included the names of former federal secretary Ahmad Waqar, who had served as secretary of the ministries of petroleum, finance and privatisation besides acting as the chairman Federal Board of Revenue, formerly known as the CBR; Iftikhar Ahmad, Additional Secretary Establishment Division, who is a DMG officer, having wide experience of administrative and quasi judicial matters and has served in the National School of Public Policy as chief instructor; former financial adviser in the Ministry of Petroleum and presently joint secretary external influence Mahmood Akhtar, who is also an experienced man; and Tauqir Sadiq, who had served for several years in the Ogra in its legal department and was then serving in the private sector.
Surprisingly, this time the prime minister rejected all the others and selected the same candidate, who was already once rejected by him. Sadiq is the brother-in-law of Jehangir Badar. Badar, when contacted, categorically denied to using any influence in the appointment of his brother-in-law.
Had I used the influence, he would have been appointed earlier, Badar said, adding that Sadiq had been appointed purely on his merit and now he had to prove his worth. If he performs, he would stay, Badar said, claiming that his whole political career was free from any such political nepotism as none of his close relations had ever been appointed against any post on political basis.
The PPP leader said that it would be very unfair if his brother-in-law was targeted only for being closely related to him.Sadiq was approached at his official number on Tuesday. Although, he did not return the call, his spokesman contacted The News on Wednesday and said that Sadiqs relation with the PPP leader should not be a disadvantage for him. The spokesman said that Sadiq was appointed through a transparent procedure and on the basis of his past working experience in the Ogra.
Regarding his LLM degree from a dubious UK-based American university, he said that there was not much relevance of this issue with his appointment because LLM was not the basic qualification required for the job. The minimum qualification was LLB, which Sadiq had got.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=190530
Spokesman says transparent appointment procedure followed
Thursday, July 30, 2009
By Ansar Abbasi
ISLAMABAD: Of late, Prime Minister Gilani has been exuding confidence and talking ad nauseum about establishing the writ of merit and good governance but when it comes to making the critical appointment of the chairman Ogra, it is bye bye merit and hello political nepotism. The handpicked man is none other than the brother-in-law of PPP Secretary General Jehangir Badar.
To be fair, being the brother-in-law of the ruling party secretary general does not bar Tauqir Sadiq from a legitimate posting but ironically the same gentleman was rejected by Prime Minister Gilani in the past. But now, for inexplicable reasons, he has been preferred over two other highly-qualified candidates. It was also revealed to The News that the newly-appointed chairman Ogra boasts an LLM degree from a UK university, which is not even accredited and has been even fined for deceptively representing itself as a university despite lacking proper accreditation.
The prime ministers spokesman, Imran Gardezi, however, insisted that the appointment was made on merit and without any political consideration. Gardezi said that had it been in the knowledge of the prime minister that the new Ogra chairman was related to Jehangir Badar, it would have actually served as a disadvantage for the official. He went on to add that the panel recommended to the prime minister contained only three names and the top two were dropped for the simple reason that one had already retired from the government service while the other was on the verge of retirement, thus leaving no option for Gilani to pick up the third one for the post.
Regarding the controversy surrounding the institution from where the chairman Ogra did his LLM, the spokesman said that the prime minister was not in the knowledge of any such thing and assured that such issues could be verified and if found true the decision could be reviewed.
Contrary to what Gardezi claims, the post of the Ogra chairman, like any other top executive position of any other regulation authority, is not meant for the serving government officers only. Instead, the Cabinet Division, through an open advertisement, sought applications from the general public, including serving and retired government servants, for the post, which requires 20 years of experience in finance, administration, law, policy planning and management.
According to sources, a committee, headed by minister for water and power, interviewed the short-listed candidates and initially recommended a panel of three Tauqir Sadiq, a retired secretary Ejaz Qureshi and another government servant and the then acting chairman Ogra Rashid Farooq.
The panel was forwarded to the prime minister for appointment but Gilani did not approve any of the three names and returned the file to the Cabinet Division with the direction that a fresh panel should be forwarded to him.
The sources said that the prime minister did not find any of the three fit for the post. Fresh applications were sought, received applications were short-listed and interviews were conducted by the committee. From amongst the three candidates previously recommended, no one applied this time, except Tauqir, who was already rejected by the prime minister.
In the second attempt, a panel of four candidates was sent to the prime minister. The panel included the names of former federal secretary Ahmad Waqar, who had served as secretary of the ministries of petroleum, finance and privatisation besides acting as the chairman Federal Board of Revenue, formerly known as the CBR; Iftikhar Ahmad, Additional Secretary Establishment Division, who is a DMG officer, having wide experience of administrative and quasi judicial matters and has served in the National School of Public Policy as chief instructor; former financial adviser in the Ministry of Petroleum and presently joint secretary external influence Mahmood Akhtar, who is also an experienced man; and Tauqir Sadiq, who had served for several years in the Ogra in its legal department and was then serving in the private sector.
Surprisingly, this time the prime minister rejected all the others and selected the same candidate, who was already once rejected by him. Sadiq is the brother-in-law of Jehangir Badar. Badar, when contacted, categorically denied to using any influence in the appointment of his brother-in-law.
Had I used the influence, he would have been appointed earlier, Badar said, adding that Sadiq had been appointed purely on his merit and now he had to prove his worth. If he performs, he would stay, Badar said, claiming that his whole political career was free from any such political nepotism as none of his close relations had ever been appointed against any post on political basis.
The PPP leader said that it would be very unfair if his brother-in-law was targeted only for being closely related to him.Sadiq was approached at his official number on Tuesday. Although, he did not return the call, his spokesman contacted The News on Wednesday and said that Sadiqs relation with the PPP leader should not be a disadvantage for him. The spokesman said that Sadiq was appointed through a transparent procedure and on the basis of his past working experience in the Ogra.
Regarding his LLM degree from a dubious UK-based American university, he said that there was not much relevance of this issue with his appointment because LLM was not the basic qualification required for the job. The minimum qualification was LLB, which Sadiq had got.
