An unfair removal

A day after his performance was praised by the Sindh chief minister, Asif Hyder Shah was removed from his post

The bigger the stage, the higher the stakes and in Pakistan there is no bigger stage than Karachi. The city is known as much for its diversity and its economic power as it is for its dysfunctional management and unwieldy development. Asif Hyder Shah’s appointment to the post of city commissioner in January this year was seen as something of a godsend for Karachi. His reputation and educational background had people convinced that he would lift the city by focusing on development and rooting out the corruption that has plagued it for far too long. But after barely six months on the job and a day after his performance was praised by the Sindh chief minister, Mr Shah was removed from his post. Officially, there has been no word on why he was transferred but it has been strongly suggested that the decision was made due to Mr Shah’s policy of not being dictated to by the political government. He is said to be the victim of a party meeting held in Dubai where the top PPP leadership expressed dissatisfaction with his recent actions and decided to replace him.

If true, this decision is reflective of the worst kind of micromanagement by political leaders in matters of governance. While parties in power continue to claim that their development plans are purely for the sake of the people, it is a statement that hardly anyone believes anymore. Under the table deals and political machinations are often the reason that development projects often get scuttled or are managed by less competent but more pliant individuals. Mr Shah appears to have become the latest in a long line of government officials whose promising start at the big stage has been cut off simply because of deciding to actually work for the people rather than just paying lip service to the sentiment. So long as our political parties continue to use local government appointments as a tool for furthering self-interest, little will change for the better. The people of Karachi will just have to wait.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 7^th, 2016.

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