Calling the pot black: Nawaz repeats what landed his predecessor in trouble

PM appointed Nasir Khosa as World Bank executive director allegedly in violation of rules and regulations. PHOTO: REUTERS

ISLAMABAD: While former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf facing a case for appointing his son-in-law as executive director of the World Bank in 2012, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif too committed the same irregularities in appointing Nasir Khosa to the same position in August last year, an official in the Economic Affairs Division told The Express Tribune.

Nawaz also appointed his then cabinet secretary, Sami Saeed, as executive director of the Asian Development Bank in November 2013, in violation of procedures, the official said. The vacancy was never circulated among ministries, divisions and provincial governments, he claimed. And in all three cases, the candidates were not interviewed by a panel of the Central Selection Board.

On Tuesday, NAB filed a corruption reference against Ashraf for posting Haq to the World Bank in violation of rules and regulations and misusing his authority as the chief executive.

According to the Office Memorandum of the Establishment Division, foreign postings in international organisations, foreign governments and specialised agencies of the United Nations are supposed to be circulated among ministries, divisions and provincial governments.

Officials privy to the development said that in 2012 when the post of executive director fell vacant, the then secretary of the Economic Affairs Division, Javed Iqbal, tried to circulate the post but was stopped from doing so by the Prime Minister’s Secretariat. Iqbal wrote about the procedural requirements in a summary he moved to the PM’s Secretariat through the Ministry of Finance.

The Memorandum says the final approving authority for officers in BPS-19 and above is the chief executive. They will be recommended by the Special Selection Board in the Establishment Division.

The government circumvented procedures described in the Memorandum in appointing Nasir Khosa as executive director of the World Bank. Neither was the post circulated nor the candidates interviewed.

A panel of candidates comprising Khosa, former secretaries Ghulam Dastgir and Javed Iqbal was selected. At that time, Iqbal had told The Express Tribune that he did not even know that he was being considered for the post.

Saeed was selected from a panel of three officials, including Ikhlaq Tarar, the then secretary of the ministry of information technology, and Nadeem Hassan Asif, the then chairman of the Capital Development Authority. One of the candidates told The Express Tribune that no interviews were conducted for the post.

Asked about these irregularities, an official of the Prime Minister’s office said that Khosa and Saeed had been recommended by the Establishment Division. He said there were no glaring irregularities in these appointments.

The spokesperson for the ministry of finance and economic affairs, Rana Assad Amin, was not available for comment.

See more at: Tribune