With the in-house election for chief minister of Punjab due to be held on April 16, all kinds of tactics are being used by both sides to manipulate the political game.
Just before the no-confidence motion was against former prime minister Imran Khan and subsequently, the no-trust motion in the Punjab Assembly, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government had decided to replace the chief secretary and inspector general of police in Punjab.
Both officers had refused to surrender to politically motivated objectives and preferred to remain neutral in the elections for the chief minister of Punjab.
The opposition leader in Punjab Assembly, Hamza Shahbaz Sharif, had challenged the move in the Lahore High Court and requested the court to stop it.
Reportedly, ex-CM Buzdar’s office had forwarded three names for the top administrative slot in Punjab. These included Federal Interior Secretary Yousuf Nasim Khokar, Punjab Planning and Development Board Chairman Abdullah Khan Sumbal and former principal secretary to Usman Buzdar, Tahir Khurshid. Sumbal, though, refused to be an aspirant for the top office. Khurshid, as sources claimed, was the favorite to wear the administrative crown of Punjab.
After Imran Khan’s government was ousted through the no-confidence vote, Buzdar planned to replace the chief secretary and the IGP. The move was challenged in the court and nothing new could take place on this front.
When Shahbaz Sharif took over as prime minister, he removed Khurshid and posted him as Officer on Special Duty. Previously, he was secretary in-charge to the federal government’s Food Security Division.
Meanwhile, PM Shehbaz also made some reshuffles in bureaucracy as Capital City Police Officer Lahore Fayaz Ahmed Dev was also transferred. He had refused to obey the orders of political masters who he thought were illegal, both in PTI and PML-N governments, said a senior police officer.
Likewise, Federal Investigation Agency Lahore Director Dr. Rizwan, who was conducting an investigation against sugar mafias in Punjab, was also transferred.
Furthermore, there is news that former principal secretary to the then chief minister of Punjab, Imdadullah Bosal, would be the new chief secretary of Punjab. Bosal, having a political background, has already worked with former CM Shehbaz.
