GB governor’s appointment smacks of bad intentions: Sethi

LAHORE: Senior analyst Najam Sethi has said the appointment of a federal minister as the Gilgit-Baltistan governor soon before elections there casts doubts on intentions of the federal government. Speaking in Geo News programme Apas Ki Baat on Sunday, Sethi said it becomes specially a matter of concern if some close relatives of the caretaker cabinet members are contesting the elections.
In reply to questions by host Muneeb Farooq, the analyst said if the government has appointed GB caretaker chief minister and the chief election commissioner after consultation with the PPP, then it is in accordance with the law. And if the appointments were illegal, why the PPP or any other political party did not challenge it in the court, he asked.
Sethi said the government should have not amended the law for appointment of the GB governor. This amendment is against the spirit of democracy, he added. If the governor has no role to play in elections, why a non-political local has not been appointed by the PML-N government as the governor, Sethi raised the question. He said non-political persons should always be appointed as a governor.
Sethi said Imran Khan’s objection to GB election process carried weight. If any petition is moved in the Supreme Court over the governor appointment issue, the court would definitely give its ruling over it.
About defeat of Pakistan cricket team in two consecutive matches at world cup event, Sethi said the belief that Pakistan’s team was the best in the world was wrong. He said the team could be criticised over its defeats, but the criticism should not dampen the morale of the players.
He said Pakistan’s ranking in One Day matches is seventh, and if anybody believes that with this ranking it would bring in the World Cup, he must think over it again. He said less hopes would cause less anger in case of a defeat. He said the team was playing under severe pressure due to high hopes of the nation.
Najam Sethi said those criticising the cricket team at the moment had also failed to deliver during their own times. He said if the team wins two, three matches, all criticism would fizzle out, and if it loses, it will be sent packing along with the management that had selected it. Sethi suggested reviving school cricket, club cricket, and district cricket to make a talent pool to constitute a better team in future. He said the new PCB chairman should be given a chance to deliver. When the team returns, all aspects of its failure would be discussed, he added.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/PrintEdition.aspx?ID=36042&Cat=13&dt=2/22/2015