Islamabad :
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has appointed Tariq Fatemi as special assistant for foreign affairs, who is considered a close associate of PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif.
According to the notification issued by the Cabinet Division, the Prime Minister has appointed Syed Tariq Fatemi as the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs under Rule 4 (6) of the Rules of Business 1973 under Schedule V-A Serial No. 1A of the said role. have done.
“This will be implemented immediately,” the notification said.
The decision to make Tariq Fatemi a special assistant was taken a day after Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s cabinet was sworn in. The cabinet was formed several days later.
PML-N sources told Dawn that cabinet members were divided within the party over portfolios of ministries, and that many close associates of Nawaz Sharif, including Tariq Fatemi, have apparently been sidelined.
It may be recalled that Tariq Fatemi had also served as Special Assistant for Foreign Affairs during Nawaz Sharif’s tenure as Prime Minister, but in the Dawn newspaper in 2017, issues related to banned organizations were discussed at a meeting of the civil-military leadership. Vali had resigned over his alleged role in the report ‘Don Lex’.
The news was initially rejected by the prime minister’s office at the time, but the military pressed for an investigation to determine the source of the leak and linked it to the country’s national security. ۔
A committee was set up to identify the informant after meeting with Sir Almeida, the investigator and reporter of the news published on October 6, 2016.
The prime minister’s office said in a statement that the “information ministry” was in a state of disarray.
The results of the committee’s investigation were not released, but then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ordered the removal of Tariq Fatemi as special assistant foreign affairs.
An Information Ministry official was also fired on the committee’s recommendation.
Dawn’s position was clarified in the October 11, 2016 editor’s note, stating that the news was published after verification, cross-checking and fact-checking.
However, in the letter, Tariq Fatemi denied the allegations against him and said that these suggestions are regrettable for a man who has served Pakistan for almost five decades.
