The government on Thursday withdrew a notification appointing a former federal secretary as chairman of the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) after strong opposition from the PPP, a provincial lawmaker said.

According to a picture of the notification shared by Sindh MPA Maleeha Manzoor on X, the orders for the Irsa chairman’s appointment were to be “treated as withdrawn”.

A day earlier, the premier had appointed Zafar Mahmood — a retired BS-22 federal government officer — as the Irsa chairman, causing much uproar in yesterday’s National Assembly session.

PPP MNA Syed Naveed Qamar had declared the PM’s act of appointing the Irsa chairman “very serious, illegal and unconstitutional”, urging the government to immediately withdraw the appointment notification.

The Awami Tehreek, Grand Democratic Alliance, Sindh Taraqqi-pasand Party and Jeay Sindh Mahaz-Riaz also strongly opposed the appointment, terming it unconstitutional, illegal and immoral.

Earlier today, in a telephonic conversation, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif assured Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah of the notification’s withdrawal, according to Sindh CM spokesperson Rasheed Channa.

According to Sindh Irrigation Minister Jam Khan Shoro, CM Shah made it a point to note that Irsa’s chairman will be appointed from a rotation of members of the provincial cabinets, as per the Council of Common Interests (CCI).

He further noted that the PM had “accepted the stance” of the Sindh CM and the provincial irrigation department.

Speaking to reporters in Karachi, CM Shah said, “The whole purpose of Irsa was that there would be no influence of the Federation in this regard.”

He referenced an ordinance that had been introduced during the caretaker government’s tenure, in which it was amended that a representative of the Federation will be a member of Irsa.

The Sindh CM highlighted that the provincial cabinet had strictly opposed this amendment.

Controversial Irsa Amendment Ordinance 2024

Mahmood’s induction as Irsa chairman had been made under the controversial Irsa Amendment Ordinance 2024 that was returned with reservations by then-president Arif Alvi to then-caretaker PM Anwaarul Haq Kakar.

An official from the Ministry of Water Resources said the president had returned the draft ordinance, but it was only known to the presidency and the PM’s office whether the president had rejected the ordinance or suggested a revisit.

“What we know for sure is that the Irsa Amendment Ordinance 2024 has now been printed [in the gazette of Pakistan] and will be placed before parliament to become a permanent act, because the ordinance obviously has a limited shelf life,” he explained.

Sindh Chamber of Agriculture rejects amendment to Irsa Act

On Tuesday, the Sindh Chamber of Agriculture (SCA) had rejected the proposed amendment to the Irsa Act through an ordinance and urged the president and newly-installed federal government to take notice of caretaker government’s “overstepping of its authority in flagrant violation of relevant decision of the CCI”.

A meeting of the chamber termed the ordinance regarding amendment to the Irsa Act “unconstitutional and illegal” and criticised the caretakers’ move as “unethical”. It said that the caretaker government clearly overstepped its authority, and added that the SCA, therefore, rejected it.

Discussing the ordinance, the meeting participants noted that under the proposed amendment, the authority to appoint Irsa chairman was delegated to prime minister whereas under the Act in effect post, the chairman’s post was to be rotated among provinces.

The meeting held that a caretaker government did not have the authority to propose amendment to any Act through an ordinance.

“An Act can be amended by an elected parliament, government and the CCI,” it asserted, and explained that such a draft had to be submitted before the CCI and chief ministers, being members of CCI, should give their input on it and then it had to be tabled, if unanimously agreed by CCI, in parliament through a resolution calling for the amendment to the Act.