Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Sunday said that all national institutions are working within the ambit of the constitution.
Chairing a high-level meeting at his Jati Umra residence in Lahore, the premier said, “There should not be any conflict between the national institutions.”
“All the national institutions should work for the progress and prosperity of the country.”
The development came following the rejection of the Dawn Leaks inquiry report by the security establishment, which called the notification “incomplete”.
The prime minister, through the office order, approved withdrawal of the portfolio of Foreign Affairs to Syed Tariq Fatemi, while action was recommended against Principal Information Officer Rao Tehsin Ali under Efficiency and Discipline (E&D) Rules 1973.
The action came after a committee probing a controversial story, published by Dawn newspaper in October 2016 about a security meeting of civilian and military leadership, submitted its findings to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The inquiry report also contained committee’s recommendations on the matter.
Soon after the issuance of Saturday’s directive from the PM Office the withdrawal of Fatemi’s portfolio was formally notified while Rao Tehsin was also made officer on special duty (OSD) pending formal proceedings against him.
The notification also said that the matter relating to the daily Dawn, its editor Zaffar Abbas and reporter Cyril Almeida is being referred to All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) for necessary disciplinary action.
The APNS shall also be asked to develop a code of conduct for the print media, especially when dealing with issues relating to security of Pakistan, and to ensure that stories on issues of national importance and security are published by abiding to basic journalistic and editorial norms, the notice added.
Minutes after the issuance of his directives, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) chief through a tweet termed the action in complete disagreement to the recommendations of the inquiry committee report and came up with its outright rejection.
“Notification on Dawn leak is incomplete and not in line with recommendations by the Inquiry Board. Notification is rejected,” read the tweet by ISPR Director General Major General Asif Ghafoor.