LAHORE: The Punjab government has allegedly appointed a ruling party worker as the Lahore Parking Company (LPC) Board of Directors chairman under political pressure, even without including the recommendation of the Special Monitoring Unit (SMU) of the Chief Minister’s Office in the process carried out for the purpose.

Official sources revealed the CM’s SMU headed by Advisor on Economic Affairs, Planning and Development Dr Salman Shah, after carrying out an extensive evaluative exercise, comprising detailed interviews etc,in December last year, recommended candidates for appointment as four independent directors, including one of them for the LPC BoD chairman slot to steer the company in the right direction under the law.

“The names of Mr Mohammad Maqbool (an accounting & finance professional, who was also recommended as chairman), Mr Waseem Ashraf (HR), Mr Moeen Sarwar (project management and business planner) and Mr Shahrukh Jamal Butt (financial and entrepreneurial skills) were recommended as LPC directors,” reads a letter the SMU wrote to the company CEO on Dec 10. “The new board, which also has eight ex-officio members, will be responsible for turning around the performance of the company through the development and implementation of a detailed business plan geared towards the expansion of parking sites, improved revenue generation, enhanced digitization and automation and reduced leakages and pilferage,” it adds.

The letter directed the LPC CEO to forward the recommendation to the Municipal Corporation of Lahore (MCL) administrator for final approval and notification.

On receiving this, the MCL issued a notification stating that the LPC in its meeting of November, 2020, suggested nine professionals for the four director slots, to pick from.

The suggestion included the names of Abdul Karim Khan, Tariq Hameed, Wasif Waseem, Moeen Sarwar, Asim Qadri, Muhammad Maqbool, Sarah Naseem, Majid Rafiq and Shah Rukh Jamal.

The MCL, through a notification, said that the SMU intimated the LPC CEO that the recommendations had been made after conducting interviews of the candidates and in-depth evaluation of their expertise and experience, to form a board with a broad-based skill set in line with the criteria defined by Dr Salman Shah.

“In pursuance of section 3.1 of the article of association of the LPCL, Mr Mohammad Maqbool, Wasif Waseem Ashraf, Moeen Sarwar and Shah Rukh Jamal are hereby appointed as LPC BoD directors,” reads the MCL letter.

But, surprisingly the recommendation of Mr Maqbool as BoD chairman was not mentioned in the notification. “It was allegedly done intentionally to oblige someone under political pressure,” an official source said. “And finally, the LPC board headed by the chairman (DC), in its meeting on Dec 18, got Mr Jamal elected unanimously by managing the members,” he added.

Talking to Dawn, Lahore Deputy Commissioner Mudassir Riaz Malik dispelled the impression and defended Mr Butt’s appointment as chairman,which according to him was done under the rules and regulations.

“I didn’t receive any recommendation from the CM’s SMU headed by Dr Salman Shah. Moreover,the SMU was not authorised to recommend someone as [LPC BoD] chairman,” he maintained. “There was also no ‘political pressure’ mounted on the board to appoint Mr Butt as chairman,” he said seeking a copy of the SMU recommendations.

When this reporter sent him the SMU letter, the DC in his reply said: “As discussed, I have made to you my point of view in clear words. The current chairman has been elected according to law and after fulfilling all formalities. Four independent members were appointed by administrator MCL out of which one was elected [chairman] unanimously by the Board. Any other process that leads to “selection” of chairman through influence is considered inappropriate and illegal. As per law, chairman can only be elected by the board.”

When contacted, the newly appointed chairman Mr Jamal admitted that his name for the slot had been recommended by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s late leader Naeemul Haq much before the whole process for the selection of the LPC BoD head.

“We are the PTI workers as all worked hard for our party. There were 15 people in the race for the [LPC BoD] chairman slot. But, I finally got this position since my recommendation was made by Mr Naeemul Haq. Moreover, the Punjab chief minister too had recommended me for this position even before the evaluation process was initiated by the SMU,” he frankly admitted.

Mr Jamal said he had been working for the LPC for about two years. “I am the person who got completed this board to steer the company in the right direction,” he added. “My appointment as chairman has been made under the law absolutely,” he claimed.

Published in Dawn, February 1st, 2021