Wooing voters: IHC dents PPP’s poll strategy
Removal of Butt, Kayani seen as a blow to party’s plans
ISLAMABAD:
The courts’ interference in the prime minister’s plans to appoint his men as chiefs of key departments in the capital may undermine the PPP’s election strategy to sweep the next general election from Islamabad.
The prime minister had appointed Atif Mehmood Kayani, as Director General (DG) Federal Directorate of Education (FDE), and businessman Faisal Sakhi Butt, as chairman of Prime Minister’s Task Force on CDA, to grab the two national assembly seats in Islamabad by giving jobs and other favours to voters.
However, the Islamabad High Court’s recent decision to bar Faisal Sakhi Butt from entering CDA’s offices and the annulment of Kayani’s appointment as DG FDE by the Supreme Court has dealt severe blows to the election strategy of the PPP.
“Despite hectic efforts, the PPP had lost NA-48 and NA-49 to the PML-N in the previous elections by a slight margin, but it will again grab these key seats in the next election,” said a local PPP leader. Butt is reportedly the PPP’s next candidate from Islamabad.
Kayani was sent home before he could induct some 5,000 employees in educational institutions under the FDE.
The Supreme Court last Thursday dismissed Kayani, calling him a half-literate man, unsuitable to be the chief of a key educational department.
He had already submitted a summary for inducting 400 people against vacancies and for creation of 4,400 new posts in educational institutions.
Sources said the PPP government had asked the DG to recruit people before the election to swing voters.
When contacted, former FDE DG Kayani told The Express Tribune he had completed the case to recruit around 5,000 employees in the FDE and the summary had been submitted to Federal Minister for Capital Administration and Development Division Nazar Muhammad Gondal for final approval.
“Hopefully, advertisements for these positions will be released by the end of this month or the next to induct staff,” he said.
“The minister will soon approve the plan for recruitments. He belongs to our party and he will expedite the process before the budget,” Kayani said, adding that the recruitments would be made on merit.
The former DG FDE stated that around 2,000 teaching staff and non-teaching staff will be recruited for schools and colleges in Islamabad. There is a shortage of science and English teachers in the city’s educational institutions, he said. The education directorate, according to its former head, is also planning to hire non-teaching staff including clerks, accounts officers, peons, gardeners and librarians.
The FDE has not created any new posts despite establishing many new educational institutions in the last 15 years, which has resulted in a shortage of teaching and non-teaching staff, Kayani added.
The DG has discretionary powers to recruit employees upto grade-15. Recruitments for senior positions will be referred to the Federal Public Service Commission.
Sources said that the PPP government has decided to recruit a maximum number of employees before the general election to gain political mileage.
“The recruitments may be on political grounds and the advertisements and interviews will be a mere formality,” said an FDE official, requesting not to be named.
FDE employees were all praise for Kayani because 6,000 teachers were promoted to the next grade and given other rights. “Kayani was our favourite DG FDE. He was always available,” said President Federal Government Teachers Association Azhar Mehmood Awan. “Unlike previous DGs, Kayani did his work sincerely. That’s the reason we saw him off with rose petals,” added Awan.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 28th, 2012.
The courts’ interference in the prime minister’s plans to appoint his men as chiefs of key departments in the capital may undermine the PPP’s election strategy to sweep the next general election from Islamabad.
The prime minister had appointed Atif Mehmood Kayani, as Director General (DG) Federal Directorate of Education (FDE), and businessman Faisal Sakhi Butt, as chairman of Prime Minister’s Task Force on CDA, to grab the two national assembly seats in Islamabad by giving jobs and other favours to voters.
However, the Islamabad High Court’s recent decision to bar Faisal Sakhi Butt from entering CDA’s offices and the annulment of Kayani’s appointment as DG FDE by the Supreme Court has dealt severe blows to the election strategy of the PPP.
“Despite hectic efforts, the PPP had lost NA-48 and NA-49 to the PML-N in the previous elections by a slight margin, but it will again grab these key seats in the next election,” said a local PPP leader. Butt is reportedly the PPP’s next candidate from Islamabad.
Kayani was sent home before he could induct some 5,000 employees in educational institutions under the FDE.
The Supreme Court last Thursday dismissed Kayani, calling him a half-literate man, unsuitable to be the chief of a key educational department.
He had already submitted a summary for inducting 400 people against vacancies and for creation of 4,400 new posts in educational institutions.
Sources said the PPP government had asked the DG to recruit people before the election to swing voters.
When contacted, former FDE DG Kayani told The Express Tribune he had completed the case to recruit around 5,000 employees in the FDE and the summary had been submitted to Federal Minister for Capital Administration and Development Division Nazar Muhammad Gondal for final approval.
“Hopefully, advertisements for these positions will be released by the end of this month or the next to induct staff,” he said.
“The minister will soon approve the plan for recruitments. He belongs to our party and he will expedite the process before the budget,” Kayani said, adding that the recruitments would be made on merit.
The former DG FDE stated that around 2,000 teaching staff and non-teaching staff will be recruited for schools and colleges in Islamabad. There is a shortage of science and English teachers in the city’s educational institutions, he said. The education directorate, according to its former head, is also planning to hire non-teaching staff including clerks, accounts officers, peons, gardeners and librarians.
The FDE has not created any new posts despite establishing many new educational institutions in the last 15 years, which has resulted in a shortage of teaching and non-teaching staff, Kayani added.
The DG has discretionary powers to recruit employees upto grade-15. Recruitments for senior positions will be referred to the Federal Public Service Commission.
Sources said that the PPP government has decided to recruit a maximum number of employees before the general election to gain political mileage.
“The recruitments may be on political grounds and the advertisements and interviews will be a mere formality,” said an FDE official, requesting not to be named.
FDE employees were all praise for Kayani because 6,000 teachers were promoted to the next grade and given other rights. “Kayani was our favourite DG FDE. He was always available,” said President Federal Government Teachers Association Azhar Mehmood Awan. “Unlike previous DGs, Kayani did his work sincerely. That’s the reason we saw him off with rose petals,” added Awan.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 28th, 2012.