March 31, 2008	Monday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 22, 1429

ISLAMABAD, March 30: The fate of Capital Development Authority is likely to be changed once again as the new government is considering a proposal to give the authority under the administrative control of the interior ministry, sources in Pakistan People’s Party told Dawn on Sunday.

The sources said there was a serious move in the ranks of the PPP that the civic body should work under the interior ministry instead of the cabinet division.

“If the CDA is given under the administrative control of the interior ministry it would be accessible to party workers because they will be able to approach the ministry easily compared to the Prime Minister’s Secretariat or the cabinet division,” a local leader of the party said.

He said as the PPP gave importance to the CDA because it was the main civic body in the federal capital, there was a strong possibility to hand it over to the interior ministry currently being headed by Rehman Malik, a close aide of PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari.

The CDA has been a rolling stone between the cabinet division and the interior ministry for a long time. Earlier it was under the cabinet division but some years ago it was given under the charge of the interior ministry. However, the caretaker government two months ago again handed it over to the cabinet division.

When asked to comment on the surprise move, the then caretaker interior minister Hamid Nawaz had told Dawn that the decision had been taken by former prime minister Shaukat Aziz.

Official sources said the cabinet division “reigns supreme” and its decisions could not be challenged at any level.

In contrast, decisions of the interior ministry regarding CDA affairs could be reviewed at different forums, reducing the chances of errors.

Insiders said a cold war between former minister Aftab Ahmed Sherpao and chairman CDA Kamran Lashari had prompted some ‘sympathisers’ of the latter to lobby for taking the CDA out of the administrative control of the interior ministry.