Re: Gilani showing his powers to Zardari
** PM sacks Jamote, asserts himself again**
**Sunday, February 01, 2009
By Tariq Butt**
ISLAMABAD: After the recent abrupt dismissal of National Security Adviser Maj-Gen (retd) Mehmud Ali Durrani, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has once again asserted his authority as the chief executive of the country by sacking another** confidant of the President Zardari **, Ghulam Qadir Shah Jamote.
Jamote was the Director General of the Task Force on Employment Commission, working at the Prime Minister Secretariat. He was a political appointee and was given this position only because of his known closeness to President Asif Ali Zardari ñ a fact that Jamote does not hide.
The force was charged, in a recent report in this newspaper, with being engaged in a dubious business that may turn out to be a major scandal against Gilani. ìT*here are growing complaints within the civilian bureaucracy about the pressures from Jamote to appoint persons of his choice,*” it had said.
In a chat with The News, Jamote expressed the hope that he would soon get another official assignment and denied his services were terminated unceremoniously.
ìBefore de-notifying my appointment, the acting principal secretary to the prime minister had a long telephonic talk with me and told me that after his return to Pakistan from Davos on Sunday, Gilani would call me for a meeting and decide about my next assignment. She told me the premier wanted to give me some other position,” Jamote said.
Jamote belongs to an influential political family of Sindh and is the brother of PPP MNA Syed Amir Ali Shah Jamote from Hyderabad.
Jamote said it was the decision of the party (PPP) to appoint him as the director general of the Task Force on Employment Commission, and it was the party, which would decide about his next job. He said it was the PPP Central Executive Committee that had recommended the creation of the task force and his appointment as such. “The PPP has full confidence in me.”
He said that **bureaucracy **was a hurdle in issuance of a presidential ordinance to legally establish the Task Force on Employment Commission, as had been the case in several other countries. He referred to the Articles 37 and 38 of the Constitution to justify the likely enactment of a law to set up the task force.
J
amote said the purviews of the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) and of the task force were entirely different. While the FPSC is already working under a law, an act of parliament is required for the force to function, he said.
“The real asset of Pakistan is its youth while we keep running after exploration of oil, gas and other resources. The IQ of our youth is far higher than those of many other countries.”
Jamote dispelled the impression that he was dismissed because of being the son-in-law of Mumtaz Bhutto. He recalled that when he was married to his daughter in 1975, Begum Nusrat Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto had carried out and overseen the wedding rituals.
He said that some people had tried to pull his leg even during the second tenure of Benazir Bhutto by telling her not to accommodate him because he was Mumtaz Bhuttoís son-in-law. ìBut she had told them that though Ghulam Qadir is the son-in-law of Mumtaz Bhutto, he is on my side.”
To a question, Jamote did not hide his close ties with President Zardari and said the friendship of the Jamote family with the Bhuttos was very old, since Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s days.
He said his association with the PPP dated back to his college days in 1971. He said he had undergone imprisonment for the PPP.
Jamote said that when an **FIA team arrested him in May 1997 (when he was PIAís director), **he was told that there were no corruption charges against him. The only question he was asked was whether he had recruited people on the then prime ministerís orders. ìI told them that a director like me can’t have access to the airline chief, how can I talk to the prime minister?î
Jamote said he was a disciplined man and would do what the party would ask him to do. ìBeing the only national party, the PPP needs to be supported by all to strengthen Pakistan. All other parties are regional or confined to certain areas,” he said.
