Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister Khalid Khurshid has decided to appoint six more ‘coordinators’, raising the total number of office-bearers in the PTI government to about 45.
Contrary to the previous Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government which only had two coordinators, the incumbent government will now have as many as 16 coordinators, belying claims of austerity by Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The inductions, expected this week, will make the G-B government the largest-ever in the region's history as the G-B Assembly itself consist of 33 members – including the 24 elected ones.
The development comes days before Prime Minister Imran faces a no-confidence motion in the National Assembly, where the opposition parties apparently already have more than the required number to oust the PTI premier.
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In a letter dated March 28, the CM office asked the chief secretary to initiate the process, referring to a fresh amendment inserted in the G-B Rules of Business on March 9.
As per the letter, the chief secretary has been asked to complete the process of appointing Muhammad Adeel Raza, Abdul Khaliq, Wazir Wilayat Ali, Ghulam Haider, Muzammil Hassan and Sajida Sadaqat as coordinators to CM.
The induction of the six ‘coordinators to chief minister’ is in addition to the nine others already appointed towards the end of last year, making special amendments to the rules of business.
Last year, in order to induct 10 coordinators, G-B amended the rules of business to make the creation of posts of coordinators. The notification read: “It is notified for general information and compliance that the Governor Gilgit-Baltistan has been pleased to further amend rule 29(A) (3) amended in 2017 of the Gilgit-Baltistan Rules of Business, 2009 by inserting a new proviso i.e. after the word two special Coordinators to the Chief Minister G-B the word and ten Coordinators to the Chief Minister”.
As per notified rules, the coordinators shall be appointed by the chief minister and shall hold the office during his pleasure. The same rules were further amended to facilitate further six coordinators’ induction.
They shall be entitled to a salary equal to half of the salary of a special assistant to the chief minister.
The notification for the appointment of six coordinators has irked party workers and leaders, who have accused the chief minister of misusing his authority.
“The CM has just ruined this party by appointing near and dear ones, we reject these appointments,” said Raja Mir Nawaz, a senior party worker. Another disgruntled leader Imtiaz Gilgiti appealed to the prime minister to take action and replace Khalid Khurshid with someone loyal to the party.
Requesting anonymity, two senior ministers told The Express Tribune that they would initiate a no-confidence motion against Khurshid as he was acting against the party interests.
“We will come up with our plan in the G-B assembly session scheduled on April 5,” they said.
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