Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif withdraws foreign affairs portfolio from Tariq Fatemi
India Today
Pak PM Sharif on Thursday was forced to withdraw the appointment of seasoned diplomat Tariq Fatemi as his Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs after coalition partner PPP opposed the move.
In a setback to Pakistan's new Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, he was forced to withdraw the appointment of seasoned diplomat Tariq Fatemi as his Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs on Thursday after coalition partner Pakistan Peoples Party opposed the move.
Fatemi is considered a close aide of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif. The 77-year-old former diplomat was not initially made part of Shehbaz's Cabinet — which took oath on Tuesday after days of deliberations between the premier and his coalition partners.
He served as the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Foreign Affairs from 2013 to 2017 but was removed after the so-called Dawn-leaks scandal.
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The Pakistan government led by Shehbaz, the younger brother of Nawaz Sharif, on Wednesday appointed Fatemi as the SAPM to the Prime Minister.
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) immediately raised concerns at his appointment as its chief, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, is expected to be appointed as foreign minister in the coming days.
Prime Minister Shehbaz, in an effort to allay the concerns of the PPP, asked the relevant department to change the appointment order.
