ISLAMABAD, March 28: The finance ministry has finally accepted the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) order and requested the caretaker prime minister to withdraw a notification about appointment of Ashraf Mahmood Wathra as deputy governor of the State Bank of Pakistan. A finance ministry official confirmed that Finance Secretary Abdul Khaliq had moved a summary on Thursday to Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso seeking de-notification of Mr Wathra’s appointment.

He said the decision to seek the prime minister’s approval for de-notifying the appointment had been taken following a firm order issued by the ECP on Wednesday for withdrawal within 24 hours of the order appointing Mr Wathra.

“It was not possible for the finance division to implement the ECP order within 24 hours on its own and hence it started the process of implementation of the ECP order,” the official said, adding that the order of appointment or its reversal had to be made after approval of the prime minister.

The ministry had earlier declined to honour the ECP order and took the stand that the appointment had been made through a proper process in exercise of powers vested in the federal government under the SBP act.

But the ECP contended that since a ban had been imposed on fresh recruitments by the ECP, any appointment made by the government without prior clearance of the ECP, was illegal and hence Mr Wathra’s appointment order should be immediately withdrawn.