Sharifs pick loyalist as Bank of Punjab chairperson

Punjab govt appoints AZK Sherdil as Chairperson of the Bank of Punjab.

LAHORE: The Government of Punjab has appointed AZK Sherdil as the Chairperson of the Bank of Punjab (BoP).

Sherdil, a District Management Group (DMG) officer of Grade 22 who retired in 2001, is known to have cordial relations with the Sharif brothers. In October 1999, when former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf overthrew the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government, Sherdil had served as the Punjab chief secretary. He has also worked as the chief secretary of Balochistan and as a principal secretary to PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif. In both  PML-N tenures, Sherdil was appointed as the commissioner for Gujranwala and Faisalabad. With the recent appointment of AZK Sherdil, there are now three people from the Sherdil family in Punjab’s provincial administration.

Sherdil will be offered a salary package of Management Professional Scale-I (MP-I) in terms and conditions, an official said on condition of anonymity. He will chair the bank’s board of directors, which dictates the bank’s policies.

The post of BoP chairperson fell vacant on April 3, when the government terminated the contractual appointment of Safdar Javed Syed, another retired DMG Grade 22 officer. According to official circles, former chief secretary of Punjab Javed Mehmood, who has been an Officer on Special Duty since February, had been eyeing the position and a promotion to Grade 22.

Familial ties

With Sherdil’s induction, the number of key decision-makers in the Punjab government who are known for their close relationships to the Sharifs has increased to 13. This figure includes six bureaucrats, three police officers, three retired generals and one Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) judge. All retired officials have been accommodated by Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif after relaxation of the Re-employment Policy of 2003, Contract Appointment Policy of 2004 and the Bank of Punjab Act of 1989.

AZK Sherdil’s elder son Khalid Sherdil is a Grade 19 officer and serving on two senior slots: the director general (DG) relief of the Board of Revenue and the DG of Punjab’s Provincial Disaster Management Authority. A total of Rs8.5 billion, belonging to the Punjab government, is at Khalid’s disposal. AZK Sherdil’s younger son Mujahid Sherdil is a Grade 18 officer and is serving as a District Coordination Officer in Sialkot.

In April 2008, the PML-N had terminated the services of about 500 re-employed officials who were hired on contracts by former Punjab chief minister Pervaiz Elahi during his tenure from 2002 to 2007. The party said re-hiring retired officials was against good governance and was a violation of merit and vowed to follow a transparent hiring policy.

Army officers’ list

Gen.(retd) Ziauddin Ahmed Butt: Appointed as the chairperson of the Chief Minister’s Inspection Team (CMIT) in April. He had served as the army chief, when Nawaz Sharif was the prime minister, and was later removed from the post by Musharraf.

Gen. (retd) Tariq Javed: Hired in March as the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Punjab Industrial Estates Development and Management Company on a contract.

Major Gen. (retd) Muhammad Ali Khan: Appointed CEO of Punjab Livestock and Dairy Development Board on September 6 for three years.

List of bureaucrats

Tasneem Noorani: First accommodated as the chairperson for the task force on urban transport. Later, on his recommendation, the transport department established the Lahore Transport Company (LTC) and he was posted as the company’s chairperson.

Yousaf Kamal: Appointed as the managing director of the Daanish School System in Punjab and the Centres of Excellence Authority in May 2009. He was also the chairperson of the Punjab Vocational Training Council.

Saeed Mehdi: Appointed as an adviser to the Punjab chief minister in June 2009. He had served as a principal secretary to Nawaz Sharif during his second stint as prime minister. On November 23, Mehdi resigned from office as his name had appeared on the list of National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) beneficiaries. Despite that, Mehdi is assisting Shahbaz Sharif.

Jehanzaib Burki: Appointed as an adviser to the chief minister on law and order in June 2009. Burki had served as the inspector-general of police during Shahbaz Sharif’s first tenure as chief minister.

Rana Maqbool Ahmed: Re-employed in September 2009 as secretary for public prosecution.

(retd) Mushtaq: Posted as head of a special investigation unit established by the Punjab home department. The unit was disbanded after it was attacked by militants in March but Mushtaq continued to work with the inspector-general of police.

Syed Abul Hassan Najmee: Posted as Punjab law and parliamentary affairs secretary in October 2009. He is a retired secretary of the Punjab Assembly.

Muhammad Chohan: Posted chairperson of the Punjab Privatisation Board in April 2009 and additional charge of Punjab Liquidation Board chairperson.

Ali Malik: Re-employed on October 1 by the Services and General Administration Department (S&GAD) as DG of the Anti-Corruption Establishment.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 24^th, 2010.