3 Ex-Shehbaz Cabinet Members in Caretaker Govt

ISLAMABAD: Three members of Shehbaz Sharif’s cabinet who are also a part of the interim administration are not being acknowledged, despite the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) ordering Ahad Cheema’s removal from the caretaker government due to his previous service in that administration.

Prior to the dissolution of parliament, PM Shehbaz had Ahad Cheema as an adviser on the Establishment Division. When caretaker PM Anwaarul Haq Kakar appointed him to his own cabinet. He was given the same portfolio.

Having noted a complaint, the ECP ordered his dismissal to protect the impartiality of the provisional administration. The Minister of Privatization, Fawad Hassan Fawad, is the target of an ongoing complaint. He was not a member of the Shehbaz administration.

But three people who were part of the previous administration have also been kept in the caretaker structure. Even two of them held positions in the Imran Khan administration. Those people are Maulana Tahir Ashrafi and Fahd Haroon. The former serves as the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Religious Peace and the Pakistani Diaspora in the Middle East. His status and portfolio have not changed despite the appointment of three different PMs.

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Here is another example: Fahd Haroon. He has worked with Imran Khan, Shehbaz Sharif, and now Anwaarul Haq Kakar as the Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Digital Media.

Jawad Sohrab Malik has descended one level. Despite not being able to secure a position in Imran’s cabinet, he continued to serve as Shehbaz’s SAPM for Overseas Pakistanis and held onto his position in the caretaker government. Jawad is the maternal nephew of Mohammedmadmian Soomro, the former interim prime minister and chairman of the Senate. Jawad’s mother is involved in the local politics of her hometown, Jacobabad.

It begs the question of why ECP hasn’t taken any action against them. In response, an official stated that Ahad and Fawad’s case was taken up by the ECP because complaints had been made against them, which had not been the case for the aforementioned individuals. He didn’t know, though, if ECP could take suo moto notice of this. The ECP is expected to reach a decision regarding Fawad’s case today, Thursday, either in his favor or against it.

But Fawad’s situation is completely dissimilar from Ahad’s. The former was not a member of the Shehbaz government. Which was disbanded at the end of the parliament’s term last year. He served as PM Nawaz Sharif’s principal secretary before moving on to Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, whose term ended in 2018.

Once more, this was not a political article. Similar to the chief election commissioner who collaborated with Shahid Khaqan Abbasi (during his tenure as petroleum minister), he functioned as a bureaucrat for him.