State Aristocracy's Pakistan – 4: PM appoints son-in-law as ED World Bank

Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf by, using his discretionary powers, has appointed his son-in-law, Raja Azeemul Haq to the prestigious post of Executive Director of the World Bank Washington.  The decision was taken despite resistance shown by Finance Minister Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, who tried to convince the Premier to change his decision, and told him that his son-in-law is “junior” for such an important position.

The Economic Affairs Division, the department which was asked to formally move the summary by the Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary Ayub Qazi, also opposed the move. The department suggested that a head-hunting committee or selection board should be formed under the Establishment Division to select a suitable candidate.

Raja Azeem is currently serving in the PM Secretariat as the Additional Secretary on a grade 21 post, a position that a civil servant usually gets after serving for two to three decades. Until a few years back, the PM’s son-in-law was serving in grade-18 post in the Income Tax Group, he was first inducted in the Employees Old-Age Benefit Institution in BPS-20, and then soon after his father-in-law’s elevation as the Prime Minister, he too  was posted in the PM Secretariat and promoted to BPS-21 .

The post is highly lucrative and the Executive Director gets a annual salary of $220, 000 (roughly Rs.21 million) with other perks and privileges, and is appointed for a period of 3 years. Currently, Javed Talat, a former career bureaucrat, is serving as the ED.

[See the print editions of The News and The Express Tribune, December 15, 2012.]

Link to The News: http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-19498-Rajas-son-in-law-appointed-at-top-World-Bank-post

Link to The Express Tribune: http://tribune.com.pk/story/480045/pm-appoints-son-in-law-to-key-world-bank-post/