Political appointments haunt career diplomats

ISLAMABAD - Once again the PPP-led Government is planning to deprive career Foreign Service officers by making political appointments to ambassadorial posts. Sources state that the Foreign Services diplomats intend to oppose the move at any cost.
There are currently a number of Pakistani Ambassadors that are near completing their tenure, including Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Omer Khan Ali Sherzai and Ambassador to Syria Ammen-ul-Raisani.
Higher authorities of Ministry of Foreign Affairs were planning reshuffling and replacements of Ambassadors. According to a source, some of the politically appointed Ambassadors were likely to secure extension while others were trying to get station of their choice.
Among them, Ameen-ul-Raisani, who enjoys good relations with President Asif Ali Zardari, is likely to be appointed as Pakistan’s Ambassador in UAE. Following the news of Ameen-ul-Raisani being named as news Ambassador to UAE, a wave of fear has been spread among teaching staff of as many as eight Pakistani schools being run under Embassy of Pakistan in the UAE.
It is important to mention here that Ameen-ul-Raisani, who, after 5 months of his arrival in Syria, fired the entire staff of Pakistan Embassay School in Syria and appointed his immediate family as the staff. Now “Ameen-ul-Raisani is now being given a promotion and is being appointed as Ambassador of Pakistan in UAE,” informed a source on Saturday. However, this correspondent could not get an official version on this.
Interestingly, Raisani will be taking over the post after the current ambassador, who is a former Nazim of Larkana, vacates the post to attend to flood relief activities in his city, said the sources.
An embassy official, requesting anonymity, revealed that they have been given the head ups that Raisani will be arriving in Abu Dhabi first week of November and the official notification from the foreign office will come then only. The 700,000 strong Pakistani community will be deeply demoralised if such an appointment happens, it is said.
Utterly alarmed, career diplomats are said to believe that the “politicisation of bureaucracy” has taken a toll on its efficiency. The junior career officers once given chances, performed wonders in African and Asian countries, but the political ambassadors when landed in the country started losing every gain.
According to inside sources, mid-level diplomats have established a committee to collect donations from colleagues to help pay attorney’s fees to prepare its case before the political ambassadors get extensions. It has been further learned from email communications that response from officers of the cadre abroad has been overwhelmingly positive.
source is http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Politics/03-Oct-2010/Political-appointments-haunt-career-diplomats which is trusted news paper