Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar has urged the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to reconsider its order for transfer of Islamabad’s Inspector General of Police and Deputy Commissioner.
The prime minister took the plea that the security situation in Islamabad was not alright. The Ministry of Interior is also against the transfer of these two officers and the Establishment Division has submitted the ministry’s report regarding the transfers to the ECP.
Secretary Establishment Inamullah Dareejo filed the report before the four-member ECP bench presided by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja on Tuesday.
The secretary argued that security situation in Islamabad is shaky and the Ministry of Interior also wanted to keep these two officers in the federal capital. The caretaker PM has also requested the ECP to revisit its decision, Dareejo added. The CEC in response the Commission will look into the Ministry’s report but he directed the Establishment Division to also sent the ECP a panel for replacing these two officers. The ECP then adjourned the hearing of the case. Earlier there were reports that the Establishment Division, in compliance with the directions of the ECP, had removed Islamabad Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr Akbar Nisar Khan and Deputy Commissioner Irfan Nawaz Memon from their posts with immediate effect. It is pertinent to mention here that then-DIG (grade-20) Akbar Nasir was appointed as the top cop in the federal capital in May 2022, by the former PDM-led coalition government.
In October, the ECP had asked the interior ministry to transfer the officers after different political parties filed complaints against them fearing they may influence the outcome of the upcoming elections. In November, the interior ministry asked the Establishment Division to transfer the IG and the deputy commissioner without further delay in light of the directives issued by the ECP. However, the division could not follow the directives.—NNI
