Daily Times

Federal Ombudsman Syed Tahir Shahbaz elected as unopposed President of Asian Ombudsman Association (AOA) second time for next four years during the International Ombudsman Conference held at Istanbul Turkey.

The conference was inaugurated by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan where China nominated Pakistan for presidentship whereas Japan and Turkey seconded the move during election proceedings, a press statement issued here said.

Speaking on the occasion, Syed Tahir Shahbaz thanked all the member countries for twice showing the confidence on the leadership of Pakistan, especially thanking China, Turkey and Japan for backing the presidentship.

Syed Tahir Shahbaz said the principles of good governance was manifested from the fact that no society can survive unless the basic needs of its people were fulfilled and they were provided inexpensive and expeditious administrative justice against maladministration of government agencies.

He said good governance must be ensured by selecting the men of integrity who have good knowledge and skills to provide check against any irregularity committed by the administration in recruitment, corruption and discrimination in service to people at large. He added that Ombudsman also look into the systemic issues to satisfy the requirements of good governance.

“In Pakistan, our institution has contributed significantly to good administration by disposing 62,000 public complaints against government agencies this year, including carrying out systemic reforms to address the root causes of complaints, up gradation of complaint management system and establishing interface with a number of government agencies for better monitoring and expeditious resolution of public grievances”, he added.

He said special arrangements have been made for resolving the problems of millions of Pakistanis by establishing One Window Facilitation at all international airports of the country, early settlement of pension claims of new retirees and ensuring regular visits of Ombudsman office at districts and tehsils headquarters to resolve public complaints closer to their doorsteps.

He further added that the Ombudsman Office has also contributed a lot to improve living conditions in jails.

During conference most of the countries appreciated the efforts of Pakistan regarding improvement in good governance and urged to follow the good practices of Pakistan. It is pertinent to mention that the secretariat of AOA is also situated in Pakistan. Chief Ombudsman of Turkey Seref Malkoc also appreciated the performance of Pakistan in running the affairs of the association.