The government spokesperson refused to disclose the number of political appointees in the current administration during a press conference at the President’s Office on Sunday, saying that it would be revealed later.
At the first press conference held in three months, the government's new spokesperson, Heena Waleed, said in response to a question from a journalist that the information would be shared with the media very soon.
“Political appointments are being talked about by a lot of people in a lot of ways. God willing, I will bring the exact figure of political appointments to you very soon,” Heena said.
“We will bring the figure to you very soon. We will provide that information to journalists.”
Despite Heena’s remarks, the government has failed to disclose details about political appointments since coming to power five months ago.
The current administration took office with a pledge to limit the number of political employees to no more than 700. However, the opposition alleges that a record number of people have been appointed to political posts. Efforts to confirm this have so far been unsuccessful.
On December 17 last year, the President’s Office accepted a right to information (RTI) request filed by Adhadhu through the Mahoali portal of the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICOM).
Before the 21-day period for responding to such requests under the RTI law passed, the President’s Office requested an extension of 14 days to provide the information.
However, the President’s Office has not communicated on the subject at all since then.
When a complaint was filed with ICOM, the office tried on several occasions to schedule a hearing in the case. The President’s Office did not cooperate on any occasion.
On March 30, in the absence of the President’s Office, ICOM determined that information about political appointments cannot be withheld and ordered disclosure within three working days.
However, the President’s Office did not disclose the information when the deadline passed on April 18.
