KARACHI, May 26: The Sindh government has reconstituted the Sindh Public Service Commission with S.N. Abbasi as its new chairman.

Mr Abbasi is the first chairman after the power of appointing chairman and members of the SPSC was given to the government (chief minister) instead of the governor following the passage of the SPSC (Amendment) Bill 2008 by the Sindh Assembly on April 16.

Mr Abbasi is a retired bureaucrat of BPS grade 21. He had joined the federal government through the Federal Public Service Commission.

He served as a member for finance of the Pakistan Steel and director-general of the Port Qasim Authority. He retired as a member of the board of governors of the Export Processing Zone.

At present, he is one of the members on the board of governors of the Sindh Madrassa-tul-Islam, Karachi.

The other members of the SPSC are: Mahkumudin Quaderi (former agriculture secretary), Nawaz Ali Leghari (former additional secretary for finance and special secretary to former chief minister), Ibrar Mirza (former additional secretary for forest and wildlife and conservator of wildlife), Inayat Baloch (former station director, Radio Pakistan, Hyderabad), Dr Akbar Haider Soomro (former principal of the Chandka Medical College), Prof Fahimuddin (former adviser to the Sindh governor on education), Shah Mansoor Alam (former secretary on services and member of the SPSC), Fayaz Ali Khan (former DIG) and Mumtaz Ahmad.

They have been appointed for a single non-renewable term of five years with immediate effect.

Earlier, this amended bill was sent to the governor for approval after its adoption by the assembly in 2004 but was sent back by the governor.

Under the rules, the governor can send back any bill to the assembly for reconsideration but he would have to sign it within 30 days if the elected house refers it again in the same condition.

The previous house, which was dominated by the Muttahida Quami Movement and the Pakistan Muslim League (Q), did not refer the bill to the governor again.

The SPSC Act 1989 was extensively amended and the powers of the government were transferred to the governor by ordinance No XXXXIX of 2001 during the governor’s rule after the dissolution of the provincial assembly.

But in the very first working session of the assembly, which was a product of the Feb 18, 2008 election, the SPSC amended bill 2008 was moved to undo what was described as a mala fide move of the caretaker government which had appointed a new chairman and reconstituted the SPSC without giving consideration to the fact that the fresh general election had been held in the country and the tenure of the outgoing chairman of the commission, Mohammad Hussain Bhutto, was till March 27, 2008.