Amidst suggesting a caretaker Chief Minister and then taking the recommendation back almost immediately, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) has certainly been active in its demands for the care-taker government. It has now followed with further demands for the caretaker Prime Minister, Nasir-ul-Haq, to remover certain appointments the party is not happy with, particularly that of Ali Jahangir Siddique, Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States.
The complaint came in the form of a letter, penned by PTI’s spokesperson Fawad Chaudhary, which said that Siddiqui is “facing NAB cases” and to make him an ambassador is equivalent to the “murder of national interest. Chaudhary today demanded that Siddiqui’s appointment be declared void and that a “competent and seasoned” person be chosen to replace him.
It is true that Siddique’s appointment has been controversial since the start, considering the fact that he was relatively young and inexperienced for the job, and there were suspicions that Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s past affiliations with him may have resulted in the appointment. Chaudhry’s accusation that Siddique is being investigated by NAB is true, however, the weight of this is uncertain considering the national debate that NAB has been overstepping its bounds.
Even if all the allegations against Siddique are true, to expect the caretaker PM to take such an actively political step is highly irresponsible of PTI and reveals the party’s political immaturity. Such a demand is clearly out of the mandate of a caretaker PM. Siddique has been appointed by an elected government and should be removed from his position by next elected if required. Removal of the envoy will only serve to propagate the PTI view ahead of the elections. Such decisions should be left to the incoming government. The current Caretaker PM should focus on running the executive and holding an unbiased election.
