ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan is personally interviewing BS-21 bureaucrats before they are even considered for promotion by a high-powered, legally competent selection board.
This is a new example being set by the Prime Minister. As a result, the meeting of the High Powered Promotion Board has been postponed several times in the recent past. Under the rules made by the government following the direction of the Supreme Court, it is a five-member selection board, headed by the Prime Minister, legally competent to promote officers from among the deserving candidates.
Informed sources in the PM's office told The News that the prime minister has started interviewing BS-21 officers face-to-face instead of the board, and that too on the basis of personal whim and selection. This situation is troubling for many BS-21 officers who are yet to be called for interview by the Prime Minister.
There are objections that if the prime minister interviews candidates before a board meeting, subsequent deliberations will be compromised. These sources said the premier should refrain from undermining the views of the selection board.
The high level selection board is headed by the Prime Minister and includes Arbab Shahzad, Shafqat Mahmood, Secretary to Cabinet, Secretary Establishment and Secretary to the PM as members.
When contacted, Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood said that the final authority to promote bureaucrats to BS-22 rests with the selection board.
There are notified rules to govern the functioning of the High Powered Selection Board. These rules were designed in light of the decisions of the SCP to structure the "absolute discretion" of the Prime Minister, which in the past promoted officers at their choice and without following any qualifications or criteria.
On the instructions of the Supreme Court, rules were made by the then Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani in the matter of promotion of 56 officers in just one day. These promotions were challenged in the apex court, which ruled that the PM cannot act like a monarch and directed that his authority should be controlled through a rules-based structured system.
According to an official source, it is illegal for the prime minister to conduct interviews of potential officers to assess their suitability for promotion. It is said that the Premier cannot replace the collective decision of the High Level Selection Board with his individual views and decisions.
"In fact, the PM is pre-deciding officers of his choice by wrongly placing a five-member legally notified promotion board," a senior bureaucrat said. Stamp' which will be convened to endorse the premeditated decisions of the PM.
Such face-to-face interviews for promotion purposes bypass the selection board and are unprecedented in the history of civil services. "This is a step towards personal decision making", commented a source. The source added that the premier can't pick and choose. "He should interview all the eligible officers, otherwise the officers may claim discrimination and the due process is being short circuited."