Not a bribe: Balochistan CM defends Arsalan Iftikhar's BIB appointment
Chief minister says it was his decision to appoint Arsalan Iftikhar as vice chairman of Board of Investment.
ISLAMABAD:
Balochistan chief minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch did not consult former chief justice of the apex court before appointing Dr Arsalan Iftikhar as the vice-chairman of the Balochistan Investment Board (BIB) last week, his spokesperson declared on Saturday.
Dr Arsalan Iftikhar, son of former Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, was appointed vice chairman of the BIB on June 21.
The appointment has been criticised since Dr Iftikhar was implicated in a financial impropriety case in 2012. Then Chief Justice had taken a suo moto notice on media reports where it was alleged that he had received between Rs300 and Rs400 million from property tycoon Malik Riaz to influence judicial proceedings.
“I don’t think that Dr Baloch consulted Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on the appointment,” the Balochistan government's spokespeson Jan Buledi told The Express Tribune.
Setting aside the notion that Dr Arsalan was accommodated on the recommendation of his father, he said “it was the chief minister’s own initiative.”
Meanwhile , Dr Malik defended his decision to appoint Dr Arsalan, justifying the appointment before opposition legislatures who had raised their objections during the Balochistan assembly session.
“It was my own decision to hire the services of Dr Arsalan,” said Dr Baloch. Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetran, an opposition legislature affiliated with Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal ( JUI-F ) protested that the appointment will have serious repercussions for the province. He termed the employment a political bribe.
However, the chief minister glorified Dr Arsalan’s services for the province as a junior official in the health department few years ago. He further added that Dr Arsalan has the capacity to attract investment in the province which he said is plagued by Baloch militancy and sectarian extremists for the last over a decade.
Balochistan chief minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch did not consult former chief justice of the apex court before appointing Dr Arsalan Iftikhar as the vice-chairman of the Balochistan Investment Board (BIB) last week, his spokesperson declared on Saturday.
Dr Arsalan Iftikhar, son of former Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, was appointed vice chairman of the BIB on June 21.
The appointment has been criticised since Dr Iftikhar was implicated in a financial impropriety case in 2012. Then Chief Justice had taken a suo moto notice on media reports where it was alleged that he had received between Rs300 and Rs400 million from property tycoon Malik Riaz to influence judicial proceedings.
“I don’t think that Dr Baloch consulted Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on the appointment,” the Balochistan government's spokespeson Jan Buledi told The Express Tribune.
Setting aside the notion that Dr Arsalan was accommodated on the recommendation of his father, he said “it was the chief minister’s own initiative.”
Meanwhile , Dr Malik defended his decision to appoint Dr Arsalan, justifying the appointment before opposition legislatures who had raised their objections during the Balochistan assembly session.
“It was my own decision to hire the services of Dr Arsalan,” said Dr Baloch. Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetran, an opposition legislature affiliated with Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal ( JUI-F ) protested that the appointment will have serious repercussions for the province. He termed the employment a political bribe.
However, the chief minister glorified Dr Arsalan’s services for the province as a junior official in the health department few years ago. He further added that Dr Arsalan has the capacity to attract investment in the province which he said is plagued by Baloch militancy and sectarian extremists for the last over a decade.