KARACHI: In a surprise move, the Sindh government on Monday removed Karachi Commissioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui and posted in his place a relatively junior bureaucrat, widely known for his close association with the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party in the province, “until further orders”.

Asif Hyder Shah, the new Karachi division commissioner, is a son-in-law of the late former Sindh chief minister Abdullah Shah whose son, Syed Murad Ali Shah, is the provincial finance minister and an important figure in the ruling PPP.

Usually, a senior officer in grade-21 is given the responsibility of Karachi commissioner. However, Mr Shah is a grade-20 officer while his immediate predecessor, Mr Siddiqui, is a senior grade-21 officer.

The decision also irked the main opposition party, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, which not only gave it an ethnic colour but also accused the PPP of misusing routine transfer and posting as a tool to influence indirect local government elections in Karachi and Hyderabad districts.

A notification issued by the Sindh chief secretary says: “Syed Asif Hyder Shah, an officer of Pakistan Administrative Services (BS-20), commissioner, Hyderabad division, is transferred and posted with immediate effect and until further orders as commissioner, Karachi division, vice Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui transferred and directed to report to services, general administration & coordination department.”

The Sindh government has not relieved Mr Shah of his responsibilities in Sindh’s second-largest city, as he would continue to hold the post of Hyderabad commissioner “in addition to his own duties till further orders”.

The sudden removal of Mr Siddiqui from the post of Karachi commissioner raised many eyebrows as he enjoyed a good reputation in political and social circles.

Mr Siddiqui was appointed Karachi commissioner three weeks before the May 11, 2013 general elections by the caretaker Sindh government.

Sources said the PPP top brass always viewed him as a ‘nominee of the establishment’ and had tried to remove him from his post at least twice during his around 32-month tenure as Karachi commissioner.

He is among a few officers who are being considered by the Centre for the post of the Sindh chief secretary as the incumbent CS is being investigated by the National Accountability Bureau and is on pre-arrest bail.

The appointment of Mr Shah as Karachi commissioner came in the backdrop of the MQM’s landslide victory in the Dec 5 LG elections and is being seen as an attempt by the PPP to tighten its grip on the provincial metropolis as under the new LG law, the commissioner of a division enjoyed enormous powers compared to elected mayors and district chairmen.

Talking to Dawn, MQM spokesman Amin-ul-Haq said the PPP wanted to influence the next phase of election of LG councillors, mayor, deputy mayor and district chairmen and, therefore, it was imposing high-ranking officers on Karachi from outside.

In a thinly veiled reference to their ethnic background, he said: “Both the city police chief and the commissioner are not domiciled in Karachi.”

He said the Sindh government should not make such appointments till the process of LG elections was completed.

However, PPP leader Senator Saeed Ghani defended the appointment of Mr Shah and said it was done purely on merit. “He is a fine officer and one should look at the development works he [Mr Shah] carried out in Hyderabad during his tenure as commissioner.”

He argued that when bureaucrats from Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan could be posted in Karachi then no one should object to the posting of an officer from the interior of Sindh in the metropolis.

Meanwhile, sources said a new commissioner to Hyderabad division would be appointed shortly.

Published in Dawn, January 5th, 2016