Bowing out: Ashraf’s son-in-law resigns from World Bank post
Raja Azeemul Haq was appointed as ED despite lack of experience.
Nasir Khosa, Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, is considered one of the frontrunners. PHOTO: FILE.
ISLAMABAD:
Raja Azeemul Haq, son-in-law of former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, has resigned as an alternate Executive Director of the World Bank in Washington, after serving for five-and-a-half months.
Secretary Economic Affairs Division, Muhammad Shehzad Arbab, confirmed to The Express Tribune that Haq tendered his resignation without elaborating as to the reasons.
According to the World Bank’s own website, Executive Directors have a dual responsibility, as representatives of the Bank’s member country, and as Bank officials who represent the interests and concerns of those countries.
With Haq’s resignation, the race for the coveted post has resumed. Nasir Khosa, Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Abdul Wajid Rana, former secretary finance and currently a member of the Federal Public Service Commission are considered the frontrunners. However, it is yet to be seen whether the new government fills the post through advertisement or decides to handpick an official.
The name of Khosa as a potential candidate for the executive director post surfaced immediately after the Supreme Court took suo motu notice of Haq’s appointment last December.
The Principal Secretary to Nawaz is considered an upright officer. He will retire in early September this year, following which the government may decide to send him to Washington, sources said.
However, if the government decides to bypass the laid down procedures, the new appointment may also become controversial.
Former secretary Economic Affairs Division Javed Iqbal, who had opposed Haq’s appointment due to his inexperience, had suggested the Establishment Division to shortlist a panel of candidates by following the proper mechanisms.
Ashraf had appointed his son-in-law to the prestigious post despite the fact he did not have the requisite experience and the ministries concerned had also opposed his nomination.
During the hearing of the suo motu case, Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali had sought a complete record of Haq’s appointment from the secretary Establishment Division and directed him to present a record of Haq’s alleged out of turn promotion to a Grade-21 officer.
Saving the former PM from further embarrassment, as the apex court can summon him after finding the appointment in violation of rules, is said to be one of the main reasons behind Haq’s resignation.
Before his appointment to the WB, Haq was serving in the PM House as an additional secretary on a Grade-21 post, a position that a civil servant usually gets after serving for two to three decades. Haq allegedly got out of turn promotions to allow him to serve at that level. Belonging to the Income Tax Group, he was inducted in the Employees Old-Age Benefit Institution in BPS-20 and then was promoted to BPS-21.
The World Bank executive director represents seven nations on the bank’s board. The nations are Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Tunisia, Morocco, Ghana and Algeria. The executive director and alternate executive director posts rotate between Pakistan and Algeria after every two years.
Their job is to defend the development projects of all seven countries on the WB board, providing input on macroeconomic reports relating to the countries, giving opinions on global economic issues and defending the quotas and voting rights of the constituency of the seven nations.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 8th, 2013.
Raja Azeemul Haq, son-in-law of former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, has resigned as an alternate Executive Director of the World Bank in Washington, after serving for five-and-a-half months.
Secretary Economic Affairs Division, Muhammad Shehzad Arbab, confirmed to The Express Tribune that Haq tendered his resignation without elaborating as to the reasons.
According to the World Bank’s own website, Executive Directors have a dual responsibility, as representatives of the Bank’s member country, and as Bank officials who represent the interests and concerns of those countries.
With Haq’s resignation, the race for the coveted post has resumed. Nasir Khosa, Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Abdul Wajid Rana, former secretary finance and currently a member of the Federal Public Service Commission are considered the frontrunners. However, it is yet to be seen whether the new government fills the post through advertisement or decides to handpick an official.
The name of Khosa as a potential candidate for the executive director post surfaced immediately after the Supreme Court took suo motu notice of Haq’s appointment last December.
The Principal Secretary to Nawaz is considered an upright officer. He will retire in early September this year, following which the government may decide to send him to Washington, sources said.
However, if the government decides to bypass the laid down procedures, the new appointment may also become controversial.
Former secretary Economic Affairs Division Javed Iqbal, who had opposed Haq’s appointment due to his inexperience, had suggested the Establishment Division to shortlist a panel of candidates by following the proper mechanisms.
Ashraf had appointed his son-in-law to the prestigious post despite the fact he did not have the requisite experience and the ministries concerned had also opposed his nomination.
During the hearing of the suo motu case, Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali had sought a complete record of Haq’s appointment from the secretary Establishment Division and directed him to present a record of Haq’s alleged out of turn promotion to a Grade-21 officer.
Saving the former PM from further embarrassment, as the apex court can summon him after finding the appointment in violation of rules, is said to be one of the main reasons behind Haq’s resignation.
Before his appointment to the WB, Haq was serving in the PM House as an additional secretary on a Grade-21 post, a position that a civil servant usually gets after serving for two to three decades. Haq allegedly got out of turn promotions to allow him to serve at that level. Belonging to the Income Tax Group, he was inducted in the Employees Old-Age Benefit Institution in BPS-20 and then was promoted to BPS-21.
The World Bank executive director represents seven nations on the bank’s board. The nations are Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Tunisia, Morocco, Ghana and Algeria. The executive director and alternate executive director posts rotate between Pakistan and Algeria after every two years.
Their job is to defend the development projects of all seven countries on the WB board, providing input on macroeconomic reports relating to the countries, giving opinions on global economic issues and defending the quotas and voting rights of the constituency of the seven nations.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 8th, 2013.