KARACHI: The Sindh government removed another Karachi commissioner — this time an officer who is perceived to enjoy a very close link with some influential members of the Pakistan Peoples Party — apparently because of political considerations, it emerged on Thursday.

Unlike his predecessor, Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui, who remained the Karachi commissioner for over two and half years, Asif Hyder Shah could not complete even five months in office.

The PPP brought Mr Shah as the “super mayor of Karachi” one month after the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s landslide victory in the Dec 5, 2015 local government elections. The MQM had opposed his appointment then and saw it an attempt to influence the indirect local government elections.

‘Favouritism and nepotism is actually ruining Karachi’

But on Thursday, it was the MQM which decried the provincial government’s decision and praised his role in elimination of corruption and development of Karachi.

While no reason has been cited in a notification issued by chief secretary Siddique Memon about Mr Shah’s removal, sources told Dawn that PPP-Parliamentarian President Asif Ali Zardari had given a green-light for his transfer.

The notification said: “Asif Hyder Shah, an officer of Pakistan Administrative Service (BS-20), Commissioner, Karachi Division, is transferred with immediate effect and directed to report to Services and General Administration and Coordination Department.”

In his place, the government posted another Grade-20 officer of the Pakistan Administrative Service, Ejaz Ahmed Khan, as Karachi commissioner with immediate effect. Mr Khan was currently posted as special secretary of the special initiative department and also held the additional charge of managing director of the Thar Coal and Energy Board.

The sources said that LG minister Jam Khan Shoro had some ‘issues’ with Mr Shah, who enjoys the reputation of an honest and upright officer, and he lodged several complaints against him before Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, Faryal Talpur and even Mr Zardari.

The sources said the minister was particularly unhappy about Mr Shah’s growing involvement in the city’s civic affairs, including the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, and he wanted his role to be restricted only to local administration and not development and civic issues.

When Mr Shah was the commissioner of Hyderabad division, Mr Shoro, an MPA from Hyderabad, was not happy with his or his deputies’ role in overseeing development works there.

“There are three issues that cost Mr Shah his job,” said a senior KMC official on the condition of anonymity. “He wanted an across-the-board action against all billboards in the city; he wanted to monitor government spending on development projects and, the third one, he wanted to take a stern action against a superstore recently opened in Gulshan-i-Iqbal.”

About a fortnight ago, Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah had approved a plan presented by commissioner Shah and ordered the finance department to release Rs1.97 billion, of which Rs1.5bn was to be used for the beautification and uplift works of roads in Clifton, Tariq Road and on the old National Highway.

Mr Shoro considered the involvement of the commissioner, deputy and assistant commissioners in civic affairs as overstepping and told the top party leadership that when he was not “interfering in the affairs of the Sindh Building Control Authority” on their orders then why the commissioner was “interfering in his domain”.

Both Mr Shoro and Mr Shah were not immediately available for comments.

A source in the Sindh government told Dawn that Mr Shah was to be compensated as he was being posted as provincial secretary of an important department.

Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in the Sindh Assembly Khawaja Izhar-ul-Hasan of the MQM expressed his concern over the sudden removal of Mr Shah.

“Asif Hyder Shah was playing an effective role against corruption and he was working hard for the development of Karachi,” he said. “Favouritism and nepotism is actually ruining Karachi.”

Published in Dawn, June 3rd, 2016