The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) change government has repeatedly ousted key officials in 31 months. Whether ministries, bureaucracies or heads of institutions, one sector is being replaced by another.
During these 31 months, 5 Chairman FBR, 6 IG Punjab, 4 Chief Secretary Punjab, 4 Federal Secretary Home, 4 Home Ministers, 3 Information Ministers and 5 Secretary Finance have been transferred.
Azam Khan, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, was most fortunate to be present in his post despite pressure from the political and ruling circles, but his role in decision-making is also significant.
Change The spring of change has begun in the government, the issue of likes and dislikes or qualifications and disqualifications has been going on, but in many important positions, not once, not twice, there is a continuous process of 'attachment, removal'.
In 31 months of the government, five chairmen of FBR were changed, where Rukhsana Yasmeen was removed and Jahanzeb Khan was appointed on August 29, 2018. On May 10, 2019, Shabar Zaidi was appointed as chairman but there was internal pressure or something else. He became so ill that he did not return. On April 8, 2020, Noshin Javed was appointed as the Chairperson of the FBR. Within three months, the FBR officers allegedly refused to accompany him. Ghani appointed chairman FBR
Meanwhile, the important position of Secretary Finance has been changed five times. Arif Ahmed Khan was appointed on the retirement of Shahid Mehmood on January 10, 2018. Muhammad Younis Daga was appointed on his retirement on March 22, 2019. As a result of a disagreement with Finance Minister Hafeez Sheikh over the F talks, he resigned from the ministry and resigned from the government service prematurely.
On May 23, 2019, Naveed Kamran Baloch and then on December 2020, Kamran Ali Afzal was appointed as Secretary Finance.
To run and handle affairs in Punjab, four Chief Secretaries were replaced, Akbar Hussain Durrani was replaced by Naseem Khokhar, then Azam Suleiman was appointed Chief Secretary and now Jawad Rafique Malik is the Chief Secretary Punjab.
In 31 months, six IGs were changed in Punjab, Kaleem Imam for three months, Muhammad Tahir for one month, Amjad Saleem for six months, Arif Nawaz for seven months, Shoaib Dastgir for nine months, then Punjab for the sixth time. Was appointed IG Punjab on September 9, 2020.
Four times at the federal level, the portfolio of the Interior Ministry was changed, first the portfolio of the Interior Ministry was retained by Prime Minister Imran Khan, then Shehryar Afridi was made the Minister of State for Home Affairs, then former IB Brigadier (retd) Ijaz Shah was made the Home Minister. Sheikh Rashid Ahmed is now the Federal Interior Minister.
The position of Home Secretary was changed four times in 31 months, Major (retd) Azam Suleiman, then Yusuf Naseem Khokhar, then Azam Suleiman and then Yusuf Naseem Khokhar were re-appointed.
In the PTI government, three information ministers have changed, first Fawad Chaudhry, then Firdous Ashiq Awan and now Shibli Faraz is the spokesman for the government of Pakistan.
In 31 months, four secretaries of commerce were changed, Younis Dhaga, Ahmad Nawaz Sukhera, Yousuf Naseem Khokhar and then Saleh Farooq were appointed as secretaries of commerce.
Five secretaries of the Ministry of Industries and Production were replaced, Maroof Afzal, then Khalid Masood Chaudhry, then Azhar Ali Chaudhry, then Amir Ashraf Khawaja and now Afzal Latif as Secretary Industries and Production.
Similarly, four secretaries of the Ministry of National Food Security were transferred, Afzal Abbas Mekan, Hashim Popalzai, Omar Hameed, and then Ghofran Memon.
In this era of corona virus, five secretaries of the Ministry of National Health Services were replaced, Captain (retd) Zahid Saeed, Allah Bakhsh Malik, Dr Tauqeer Hussain, Dr Tanveer Qureshi and now Amir Ashraf Khawaja.
It may be recalled that the Minister of Health was Amir Kayani who was replaced by Dr. Zafar Mirza and now Dr. Faisal Sultan is the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister while the pen of the Ministry of Health has been with Prime Minister Imran Khan since 2019.