LAHORE: Caretaker Chief Minister Najam Sethi courted controversy when the PPP, the party which had proposed his name for the slot, expressed its disappointment over his decision not to fire the retired bureaucrats Shahbaz Sharif had recruited on different important positions.

Although the PPP has appreciated Mr Sethi for his intention to reshuffle the bureaucrats in the province to ensure free and fair elections, it believes the PML-N leadership is ‘influencing’ him to let Shahbaz’s blue-eyed bureaucrats work. It says Mr Sethi had initially decided to sack some of those officers but later backtracked.

The PML-N, on the other hand, is effusive in its praise for Mr Sethi, saying “he is an impartial man and the PPP should not criticise him out of frustration.”

“It is ironic that while the Election Commission has given instructions to the provincial governments to reshuffle the bureaucracy, Caretaker Chief Minister Najam Sethi, though committed to reshuffle the bureaucracy from top to SHO level, has backtracked from his earlier decision of sacking the top bureaucrats like the Metro Bus chief (Sibtain Fazle Haleem) and many others whose loyalties are undoubtedly with those who had appointed them.

“They are beholden to former chief minister Shahbaz Sharif and therefore cannot be neutral,” former premier Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said in a statement here on Wednesday.

Mr Ashraf said it was not acceptable and asked Mr Sethi to take action against these retired bureaucrats before reshuffling the bureaucracy.

“I fail to understand as what led the caretaker chief minister to reverse his earlier decision which was also compatible with the judgment of the Supreme Court regarding the hiring of the services of retired bureaucrats on a contract basis,” he said.

He said the caretaker chief minister might have been influenced by those who wanted to retain them in their positions obviously to influence the impartiality of the forthcoming elections. He, however, appreciated Mr Sethi for “maintaining neutrality in absolute terms” and expressed hope that the implementation of his suggestion would further augment the impression of his impartiality.

A spokesman for the caretaker provincial government told Dawn that it had not terminated the contract of the officials in question. “So, there is no question of backtracking,” he said.

Answering a question about any pressure from the PML-N leadership on the caretaker government, he said all efforts had been directed at ensuring free and fair elections in the province.

Senator Pervaiz Rashid told Dawn that it was rather ironic that the PPP was casting a doubt on the integrity of the person it had proposed for the caretaker chief minister.

“No one can pressure Mr Sethi as he is independent in his decisions. The officials the PPP is concerned with are not in a position to influence the elections,” he said.

It was in fact the fear of losing that had ‘unnerved’ the PPP leaders, he said, adding “no one can get the desired results in the election in the presence of the independent ECP and media.”