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This is not important that the chief secretary dissolved the Punjab CM and cabinet. Important is why he did it?

This is not important that the chief secretary dissolved the Punjab CM and cabinet. Important is why he did it?
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This is not important that the chief secretary dissolved the Punjab CM and cabinet. Important is why he did it.

Special Report:

Former Prime Minister Imran Khan has claimed that “Namaloom Afraad” convinced and pressurized the Punjab Chief Secretary Abdullah Khan Sumbal to notify the order of CM’s dissolution.
While talking to journalists at his Zaman Park residence, Mr Khan expressed Governor Balighur Rehman had put along legal opinions delivered by his private lawyers, including Khalid Ranjha, and desired Chief Secretary Sumbal to sign the notification.
Answering a question, he declared the chief secretary had attempted to resist the ”pressure” and written to the Governor to appoint a panel of legal experts, but his demand remained disregarded.
Sources also voiced Mr Sumbal was pushed to sign the Governor’s notification based on three legal experts’ opinions forwarded by the Governor’s House. They stated the CS had explicitly responded to the order that there were various interpretations of the order, and he needed inputs for a subtle understanding of such a grave matter.https://republicpolicy.com/riddle-of-appointing-chief-secretary/

They also said the CS was not confined or intruded, but he stayed engaged in long, lengthy meetings and negotiations. He contacted a lot of solicited and unsolicited legal opinions. Sources in the PML-Q also said the chief minister wanted the chief secretary to postpone the notification.
Meanwhile, PML-Q leader Moonis Elahi expressed in an interview with a news channel that the Punjab government was scrutinizing who compelled the chief secretary to sign the notification. The Governor’s lawyers had prepared a legal opinion on the order, which was later suspended by the Lahore High Court, and wanted the chief secretary to sign on instantly. “The chief secretary takes legal opinion on legal matters from the Punjab Law Department or the advocate general, but he was denied this facility,” he claimed.
Mr Elahi, however, expressed unawareness of the reports that Mr Sumbal was detained in his office for three hours. PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry claimed that CS was forced to do it before he signed the Governor’s order denotifying the chief minister and dissolving the provincial cabinet. He also expressed that he was unaware if the chief secretary was in touch with the chief minister.
Mian Aslam Iqbal also expressed the same apprehension when he spoke at the forum of the Punjab assembly. However, the PTI is painting the incident as CS was forced to do it. Then, the same incident raises a few questions, and the fundamental question is why the chief secretary signed the notification. The first thing is that the order of the Governor might have legally convinced Chief Secretary, and therefore, he signed it as a professional civil servant. Then, it has not been the case. Earlier, a couple of days before, the federal government exclusively appointed the chief secretary because it knew what would happen. Sources from the provincial services claim that the chief secretary is a federal civil servant and he will always obey the federal government what come may.https://republicpolicy.com/do-provinces-need-chief-secretaries/

They contend that the chief secretary is a federal PAS officer, which is the service of the establishment division. The federal government settles the terms and conditions of the service. Therefore, they are not accountable to provincial governments despite working in the provinces. Furthermore, the present chief secretary is answerable to the federal government and can not refuse the federal government’s orders. Therefore, he had no other choice but to sign the notification. PTI might relate him to being close to them, but he is a civil servant of the federation, not the province. They further claim that had the chief secretary been a provincial employee, he would not have signed it because the provincial governments would have settled his terms and condition. Civil servants have the peculiar tendency to save their job at any cost and respond only to those who have competency on the terms and conditions of their careers. Under this pretext, the chief secretary shall always respond to the federal government.

Sources inside the bureaucracy claim that their career is the most significant part of their psyche. They further claim that Mr Abdullah Khan Sumbal is a conscientious officer and can not be pressurized. However, at the same time, he can not refuse the federal government as he belongs to them. Coming back to the question, why did CS sign it? He signed it because he is a federal civil servant and has nothing to do with the provincial chief minister, cabinet and assembly. He will only respond to the federal government to whom he belongs. Then, why do provincial governments keep federal civil servants as chief secretaries and make themselves so weak?https://republicpolicy.com/appointment-of-chief-secretary-ig-punjab-unconstitutional-president-aoaf/

Then another anomaly of the system is that if one reads the notification. The federal chief secretary dissolves the provincial government. Is it not less than a joke? All provincial posts are the constitutional authority of the provincial governments, and provincial governments can appoint only provincial services there. As long as the federal civil servants occupy the provincial posts unconstitutionally, the provincial governments shall remain weak, and the whole system shall remain in the shackles of the federal government. The sooner the provincial government understand it, the better it is, as contented by Noman Wazir, the president of the association of administrative federalism, Pakistan.https://republicpolicy.com/appointment-of-chief-secretary-and-ig-unconstitutional-kpk-finance-minister/

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