CCP chief worried about successor’s appointment
ISLAMABAD:
The government is not giving economy the importance that it deserves and is letting people with vested interests play havoc with the destiny of the country’s population, said the Chairman of the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) on Tuesday.
He said the economy had never been the government’s priority, as the economic indicators were deteriorating and the regulatory mechanisms were dysfunctional.
Khalid Mirza is afraid that the government might appoint a retired bureaucrat or politician as the head of the body which would be disastrous for the institution. He is going to retire on July 25 after completing his tenure as the chairman of the CCP.
He wondered how the government could be serious about the CCP when it was running the State Bank of Pakistan without a full-time governor. According to the law, the government would have to notify the acting chairman after July 25 in case it did not select anyone on a permanent basis.
He said that the CCP law was quite clear that the chairman should not be over 65 years of age, but that the age limit in India was 68 years. “If the government wanted to move ahead there would not be a problem and they could increase the age limit by simply issuing an ordinance to this effect.”
He said that an extension in his tenure was out of question as he had taken decisions against powerful lobbies on merit.
He said that the competition ordinance would lapse on August 18 and it would be disastrous if the government did not take measures to have the CCP bill approved from the National Assembly.
He said that he had reminded the government about this issue several times but that the incumbent regime seemed oblivious to it. Mirza said that he has proposed the name of Rahat Hassan Kaunain for the new chairman.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 21st, 2010.
The government is not giving economy the importance that it deserves and is letting people with vested interests play havoc with the destiny of the country’s population, said the Chairman of the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) on Tuesday.
He said the economy had never been the government’s priority, as the economic indicators were deteriorating and the regulatory mechanisms were dysfunctional.
Khalid Mirza is afraid that the government might appoint a retired bureaucrat or politician as the head of the body which would be disastrous for the institution. He is going to retire on July 25 after completing his tenure as the chairman of the CCP.
He wondered how the government could be serious about the CCP when it was running the State Bank of Pakistan without a full-time governor. According to the law, the government would have to notify the acting chairman after July 25 in case it did not select anyone on a permanent basis.
He said that the CCP law was quite clear that the chairman should not be over 65 years of age, but that the age limit in India was 68 years. “If the government wanted to move ahead there would not be a problem and they could increase the age limit by simply issuing an ordinance to this effect.”
He said that an extension in his tenure was out of question as he had taken decisions against powerful lobbies on merit.
He said that the competition ordinance would lapse on August 18 and it would be disastrous if the government did not take measures to have the CCP bill approved from the National Assembly.
He said that he had reminded the government about this issue several times but that the incumbent regime seemed oblivious to it. Mirza said that he has proposed the name of Rahat Hassan Kaunain for the new chairman.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 21st, 2010.