PTI asks ECP to remove PU vice chancellor

Terms appointment ahead of election illegal; also calls into question his affiliation with JI

ISLAMABAD: A day after demanding removal of the National Database Regulatory Authority (Nadra) chairman, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has written a letter to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) objecting to the appointment of the Punjab University’s (PU) new vice chancellor.

Dr Niaz Ahmed Akhtar was notified on June 2 as the PU’s new vice chancellor following his interview by the then chief minister Shehbaz Sharif two days before his government’s tenure had ended.

“This is to bring to your notice an illegal appointment made by the PML-N government of Dr Ahmed, as Vice Chancellor of University of Punjab,” PTI’s spokesperson Andleeb Abbas wrote to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sardar Muhammad Raza.

She stated that the academic was appointed on June 2, in grade-22, under the pretext of following the Supreme Court of Pakistan orders.

Quoting Section 5(4) of the Elections Act, 2017, she wrote, “Any government or authority shall not post or transfer any official appointed or deputed in connection with an election without prior approval in writing of the commission.”



She added, “Dr Akhtar’s appointment on June 2, after the announcement of the Election Schedule on May 31, clearly violates the Election Act, 2017.”

According to the PTI spokesperson, the PU houses 45,000 students and has historically been vulnerable to the political affiliations of its vice chancellors.

“Dr Ahmad [Akhtar] has a history of being affiliated with Jamaat-e-Islami and has held official posts earlier in his career with this political party. The details of his political affiliations and activities have been given in the attached news reports published in various newspapers,” she said.

Abbas asked the CEC to take immediate action to suspend ‘this illegal appointment’ violating the Elections Act, 2017. She said the previous government was in such a hurry that Shehbaz held interviews of the candidates at Lahore airport due to ‘busy schedule’.



Another reason for rushing to finalise the VC at the eleventh hour were the strict orders of the apex court to the government to have a permanent VC in the PU, giving the Punjab Higher Education Department and Punjab Higher Education Commission a run for their money.

On June 5, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan also took strong exception to the appointment of the academic and said the professor selected for “this highly sensitive job is reported to have served at some point as head of the Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba, the student body protected and indulged by dictatorial regimes to hold the university hostage through violence and ideological blackmail”.