President Dr Arif Alvi on Monday approved the removal of Ahad Khan Cheema as an adviser to the prime minister on establishment.

Last week, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had ordered Cheema’s removal from his post. The commission had issued the directives while hearing a petition seeking the removal of Cheema, Privatisation and Inter-provincial Coordination Minister Fawad Hassan Fawad and Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Dr Tauqeer Hussain Shah from their posts.

The petition filed by Advocate Syed Azizud Din Kaka Khel in October had said the transparency of elections was not possible due to these individuals being part of the caretaker government.

In the short order, the ECP said that the petitioner’s prayer for Cheema to be removed was “reasonable and is accepted” on the basis that the latter was a part of the previous government and could thus “influence the holding of free, fair and transparent elections” if he continued in his post.

According to a press release issued by the presidency today, the approval for removing Cheema was given after caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar had sent a summary for the same on the ECP’s directives.

The statement highlighted that the president approved Cheema’s removal from the post under Article 48-1 of the Constitution and the premier’s advice.

Article 48 (1) says, “In the exercise of his functions, the president shall act on and in accordance with the advice of the cabinet or the prime minister.”

Cheema had also served as a special assistant in the previous PML-N-led government. He was perhaps the only exception who was part of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government and also Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar’s cabinet.

On November 27, the National Accountability Bureau gave Cheema a clean chit in the assets beyond means reference. Later on December 8, an accountability court acquitted him in the same reference.

The current interim federal cabinet includes many ministers known for their close association with the PML-N. They include Sami Saeed, Umar Saif, Shahid Ashraf Tarar and Jahanzaib Khan.

Earlier in September, the ECP had advised the interim government to refrain from inducting “persons of known political allegiance” in a letter to the caretaker prime minister’s secretary.

However, PM Kakar in October had dispelled the impression of the caretakers being a “B” team of the PML-N and said it was unfair to link cabinet members Fawad and Cheema with the PML-N as both were seasoned bureaucrats who had served the state instead of any political party.