There have been several question marks over the federal government’s handling of the affairs of vital institutions and departments. Be that Pakistan International Airlines, Pakistan Steel Mills, Pakistan Railways, National Insurance Corporation Limited, National Bank of Pakistan, Oil & Gas Development Corporation (OGDC), Federal Investigation Agency or National Accountability Bureau, the Gilani government has been appointing people of its own choice disregarding all norms and traditions. Not only this, the government appears to be unwilling to tolerate any official in important position who is honest and competent and performing his duties efficiently. The latest example is the resignation of acting chairman of Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), Sabir Hussain who accused senior officials of the Authority of creating hurdles in maintaining transparency. Talking to one of The Nation’s correspondents, Mr Sabir bitterly deplored the situation saying that due to indifferent attitude of the senior officials, OGRA has been transformed into a highly controversial regulatory authority. Meanwhile, Moqbool Khawaja, a Member of National Electronic Power Regulatory Authority has also submitted his resignation claiming that he was under tremendous pressure of the Sindh Government to leave the job because it is allegedly bent upon hiring a blue-eyed person for the slot. His resignation has since been sent to the Prime Minister for approval after that there would be two members left of whom Shaukat Ali Kundi is from Khyber Pakhtunkhaw and Ghiyas ul Din Ahmad from Balochistan. Sindh and Punjab would have no representation at such a vital state institution.
There are examples like appointing Adnan Khawaja as the head of OGDC who is not even a matriculate and is reported to have been a jailmate of Premier Gilani. His appointment was declared null and void by the Supreme Court which had initiated a suo moto action. To ensure good governance, it is essential that competent people are picked and assigned to vital institutions as heads so that they could perform their functions efficiently and in a transparent manner. As such, the sitting government is left with very little time. It can no longer afford to make mistakes in the selection of people with good repute. It must take urgent corrective measures. It is better late than never.