PESHAWAR, Dec 10: A row has been brewing for some time between NWFP Governor Lt-Gen (retd) Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah and Chief Minister Akram Durrani over the role of the levy commandant
, Malakand, who has been accused by certain circles of siding with the MMA candidate in the NA-35 by-election due next week.
The row started when the governor initiated two summaries last week, first seeking suspension of the commandant, Fazl-i-Rabbi, and later his removal, citing reports that the officer was supporting the Jamaat-i-Islami candidate.
The two summaries, initiated within a short span of one week, were turned down by the chief minister, sources told Dawn. This, said the sources, could further strain the already 'not-too-good relations' between the two main executives in the NWFP.
The electoral battle for National Assembly seat, which fell vacant due to the death of JI member Maulana Inayatur Rehman, is fought by three candidates, the MMA-backed Bakhtiar Maani, PPP's Humayun Khan and PML-Q's Salim Saifullah Khan.
To the good fortune of voters in Malakand, one of the most backward areas of the province, both the MMA-controlled provincial government and the PML-led federal government have pooled their resources to back their candidates.
The role of the commandant levy, say officials, is important in that he oversees law and order in the area. "He is like the SP of the district. If an SP can influence an election, so can the commandant," commented a senior official.
The home and tribal affairs department, in its comments, cited Article 247 of the constitution to state that Malakand, being part of the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (Pata), came within the purview of the provincial government and that the governor had no jurisdiction in the area.
The establishment department, citing legal and constitutional position, left it to the chief minister to decide the fate of the commandant. Chief Minister Durrani, in a remarkably prompt disposal of the case, turned down the recommendation of the governor, saying that the officer was doing a fine job and it would not be advisable to remove him at this juncture when the by-election was so near.
Within days, however, the Governor's secretariat (Fata) initiated another request seeking transfer of the commandant. In its summary, a copy of which is with Dawn, the establishment department, while referring to the 'desire' of the governor's secretariat, drew the attention of the chief minister to a Safron (State And Frontier Regions) circular issued in 1970 saying that the operational control of the levies lay with the governor and the administrative and financial control with Safron.
According to Para-IV of the circular, the establishment department noted that the control of the civil armed forces in Pata remained under Safron. It said that the Malakand levies had been established by the British and the political agents served as its commandant in those days.
However, after the devolution of powers and introduction of the district government, it said, the district coordinating officer was given the additional charge of the commandant, a job he continued to hold till 2002.
It said that according to Article 247 of the Constitution, Malakand Agency was the only tribal agency in Pata which was under the administrative control of the provincial government and where the levies performed the functions of police to maintain law and order and register FIRs.
"And since under the Constitution, (maintenance of) law and order is a provincial subject, therefore the transfer and posting of these officers (commandants) continued to be issued with the approval of the chief executive (chief minister) of the province," the summary added.
It also drew the attention of the chief minister to a point raised by the NWFP home department that the two-year contract of the commandant, approved by the federal government through its notification issued in 2002, had expired on October 6 and that the department concerned had now approached Islamabad again for a further extension in the contract.
"No reply (from the federal government) has been received so far. And therefore the post of the commandant levy practically stands abolished since October 6, 2004," the summary to the chief minister said.
"In the light of the above facts, it is suggested that in order to avoid legal complications, the incumbent commandant levy, Malakand, be called back to the establishment department since no such vacancy of the commandant Malakand levies exists and the DCO be given additional charge as before till the time the federal government approves its extension," the establishment department said while concluding the summary.
But official sources privy to the development say that Chief Minister Durrani turned down the summary for a second time, saying that there was no complaint against the officer who, in his opinion, was honest and there was no need for his removal at a time when elections were only a few days away.
