Provisions: Malik can’t be appointed adviser, Presidency told

Presidency had sought cabinet division’s comments on a proposal to appoint Malik.

ISLAMABAD:

Rehman Malik cannot be appointed as an adviser to the president under existing rules, the cabinet division conveyed to the Presidency on Wednesday.

“There is no provision in the law to appoint any person as an adviser to the president,” stated the gist of cabinet division Secretary Nargis Sethi’s written response to the Presidency, a senior official told The Express Tribune.

The Presidency had earlier sent a proposal for appointing Malik as President Asif Ali Zardari’s adviser on interior and foreign affairs to the cabinet division, seeking its comments in light of the Federal Government Rules of Business 1973.

When contacted, presidential spokesperson Senator Farhatullah Babar said no notification or summary in this regard has been received yet.

Meanwhile, according to Justice (retd) Tariq Mehmood, only the prime minister can appoint up to five advisers under the Constitution. These advisers, he added, can also represent the government in Parliament.

The cabinet division’s refusal comes at a time when Malik has been indicted by the Supreme Court for a contempt of court notice issued during the Pakistan Steel Mills corruption case hearing.

Legal experts observed Senator Malik may lose his seat in the upper house of Parliament if he is finally convicted by the court. They cited Article 63(1)(g) of the Constitution, which states that a person shall be disqualified from either holding or contesting a seat in the Senate for five years if he or she has been convicted by a court.

Constitutional expert Wasim Sajjad, however, advised people to wait till the court gave its final judgment on Malik’s case. Justice Tariq added that President Zardari could also appoint Malik as an adviser the same way he appointed Dr Asim Hussain his personal doctor.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 21^st, 2013.