A technical problem with the President's Office website cited as the reason for delays in disclosing the government's senior political posts has now been resolved, President's Office Communication Minister Ibrahim Khaleel said yesterday.
Speaking to Adhadhu on the issue, Khaleel said the President's Office has now started the process of bringing the information up to date. Ten people newly appointed as ambassadors could not be seen on the website, he said.
"Uploading everything [information on all political posts] will be finished in a few days," Khaleel said.
Next Friday, it will be six months since the government took office, but the number of political appointees has not been revealed so far. The President's Office previously disclosed appointments above the rank of deputy minister but the information has not been updated.
The President's Office previously blamed a technical problem with the website for the delay. President's Office Chief Spokesperson Heena Waleed also referred to the technical problem on April 28 after pledging to disclose the information very soon.
“We will bring the figure to you very soon. We will provide that information to journalists,” Heena said at the time. However, the information was not provided at a press conference held after that.
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.
