By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: President Arif Alvi on Monday approved the removal of Ahad Khan Cheema, an adviser to the prime minister on establishment, following an order by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) that said he could influence the upcoming elections.
Cheema, who had also served as a special assistant in the previous government led by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), was one of the few officials who remained in the caretaker cabinet headed by Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar.
The ECP, which is responsible for conducting free and fair elections in the country, had directed PM Kakar to remove Cheema from his post last week, after hearing a petition filed by a lawyer, Syed Azizud Din Kaka Khel, in October.
The petition had alleged that Cheema, along with two other officials — Fawad Hassan Fawad, the minister for privatization and inter-provincial coordination, and Tauqeer Hussain Shah, the principal secretary to the prime minister — were loyal to the PML-N and could compromise the transparency of the elections.
The ECP accepted the petitioner’s plea for Cheema’s removal, saying that he was a part of the previous government and could thus “influence the holding of free, fair and transparent elections” if he continued in his post.
According to a press release issued by the presidency on Monday, Alvi approved Cheema’s removal under Article 48-1 of the Constitution, which states that the president shall act on the advice of the cabinet or the prime minister.
The statement did not mention the fate of the other two officials named in the petition.
The current interim federal cabinet, which was formed in August to oversee the transition to the next elected government, includes many ministers who are known for their close association with the PML-N, the party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who was ousted by the Supreme Court in 2017 on corruption charges.
The ECP had advised the caretaker government in September to refrain from inducting “persons of known political allegiance” in a letter to the prime minister’s secretary.
But Kakar had defended his cabinet choices in October, saying that it was unfair to link Fawad and Cheema with the PML-N, as both were seasoned bureaucrats who had served the state instead of any political party.
He had also dismissed the notion of the caretakers being a “B” team of the PML-N, and said that his government was impartial and committed to holding free and fair elections.
Pakistan is scheduled to hold general elections on February 8, 2024, to elect members of the National Assembly and the four provincial assemblies.
The main contenders are the PML-N, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led by former cricket star Imran Khan, and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) led by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the son of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in 2007.
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