Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry announced on Thursday that the government would place the names of all 172 personnel identified by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) probing the fake accounts’ case on the Exit Control List.

These include Pakistan Peoples’ Party co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari.

The decision was announced by Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry in a press briefing held after a federal cabinet meeting. “I hope Zardari will take the JIT seriously. This is not the old Pakistan where people were used to making compromises,” he said. “The independent accountability process will continue”. When a reporter referred to Zardari’s counsel Lateef Khosa’s statement that the PPP leader would be arrested before December 31, the minister replied, “God Willing. What else can I say about the matter?”

“It is ridiculous how they [opposition parties] launder public money and then call upon the public to protest over ‘alleged injustice with them.’ “How can they ask people of Sindh to protest for them after having looted their money?” asked the minister. Further, the information minister said polls for FATA’s provincial assembly will be held in June.

“FATA will get constitutional rights. We wanted to take FATA into the mainstream as soon as possible,” he said, adding that all basic necessities would be provided to the general public.

Regarding former MQM leader Ali Raza Abidi’s murder, he said that the federal cabinet had examined the law and order situation in Karachi, adding that the murder was part of attempts to disrupt peace and security of the metropolis. “Karachi’s peace is interlinked with Pakistan’s economy,” he stated, adding that various criminal groups have been ‘reactivated’ in the city.

“There are South African gangs involved in Karachi violence. Foreign office has been advised to take the matter with the South African government,” he said.

Regarding threats being given by the MQM leader Altaf Hussain, he vowed that the matter would be raised with the British government as Abidi had been murdered following his threats.

“We have seen Altaf Hussain’s video where he is inciting violence, and giving orders from Britain to disrupt peace and commit murders here,” he said.

The minister expressed displeasure over the performance of CCTV cameras installed in Karachi.

Cabinet approves Farrukh H. Sabzwari’s name for SECP chair

Earlier, the federal cabinet met here on Thursday with Prime Minister Imran Khan in chair and approved the appointment of SECP’s commissioner Farrukh H. Sabzwari as the chairman of the commission.

Sabzwari was appointed commissioner at the SECP on November 15, 2018. He would take charge of the chairmanship following the issuance of notification by the Ministry of Finance. Currently, Tahir Mehmood has the acting chairman’s charge.

Sabzwari is an MBA in finance with more than 25 years of professional experience in the capital markets in Pakistan and abroad. Before joining the SECP as a Commissioner in December 2018, he was the CEO of BMA Capital Management, one of Pakistan’s largest firms dealing in financial services.

His previous senior management roles include a 7-year stint with Credit Suisse Securities in Singapore as Director APAC Equities Sales from 2010 to 2017. Prior to that, he was the CEO at KASB Securities, a Merrill Lynch JV partner in Pakistan. He held the position from 2005 to 2009. He also spent more than eight years at CLSA, a Citic-owned boutique investment firm, as Country Manager and Head of Sales for Pakistan from 1995 to 2001, and subsequently as VP subcontinent sales in New York in 2001-2003. He completed his Singapore Broker License and Indonesian Capital Market Exams in 2010 and his Series 7 and 63 in New York in 2001.

Published in Daily Times, December 28^th 2018.