There is no shortage of issues generating tension between the federal and Sindh governments with the Centre again becoming a hurdle in the administrative affairs of the province, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Saturday.
It is Chief Secretary Syed Mumtaz Ali Shah against whom both the PTI and the MQM – coalition partners at the Centre and part of the opposition in Sindh – joined hands, creating a joint front.
In this connection, the two parties have not only complained against him but also demanded his removal from the slot. Hence, the Establishment Division has informed the province’s top bureaucrat about the situation.
With the Centre wanting to remove the chief secretary, the Murad Ali Shah-led Sindh government has planned in advance to tackle the situation. In case the federal government goes ahead with replacing the chief secretary, three names would be sent as a substitute to fill the vacancy.
The names of these three Grade-22 officers are: Dr Sohail Ahmed Rajput, Naveed Kamran Baloch and Muhammad Waseem.
Meanwhile, the latest cold war comes at a time when the three-year tenure of the incumbent chief secretary will soon be over.
Critics believe that the very idea of chief secretary and the IG Police being answerable to the federal government is against the autonomy enjoyed by provinces after the 18th Amendment.
They say it restricts the provincial governments’ ability to execute their planning and conduct the affairs according to policies as the persons heading the bureaucracy and the police are at the mercy of the federal government.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Imran Khan held a meeting with an MQM delegation as both sides decided to contest the Senate elections on a joint platform.
Moreover, Imran also assured the MQM of giving it a prominent role in Gilgit-Baltistan and withdrawing the cases registered against the party members and workers.