ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet has approved the appointment of Rahat Kaunain as the new chairperson of the Competitive Commission of Pakistan (CCP).
According to sources, the cabinet on Tuesday gave a go-ahead to the appointment of Rahat Kaunain Hassan, Mujtaba Ahmad Lodhi and Shumalia Lone as CCP members. It also okayed the Ministry of Finance’s proposal to appoint Kaunain as CCP chairperson.
Rahat Kaunain received her LLM degree from King’s College London, having focused her academic work on the law of international finance and international business transactions.
Earlier, the finance ministry had shortlisted nine candidates for the said three positions at CCP. These included Rahat Konain Hassan, Shumaila Loan, Moeen Matley, Sameer Ahmad, Muhammad Bilal, Salman Amin, Mujtaba Ahmad Lodhi, Ikramul Haq Qureshi and Khaqan Hassan Najeeb.
Subsequently, a five-member selection committee headed by Adviser to PM on Finance Abdul Hafeez Shaikh recommended three names for appointment as members. The other committee members include Commerce Adviser Abdul Razaq Dawood, Institutional Reforms Adviser Dr Ishrat Hussain, Finance Secretary Naveed Kamran Baloch and Establishment Secretary Ijaz Munir.
It may be noted that the CCP was currently working with two members: acting chairperson Shaista Bano and Bushra Naz Malik. However, five members were needed to fill the quorum at CCP.
Rahat Kaunain has previously served twice as a member of the CCP, including her 2010-2013 term when she was the CCP chairperson. Interestingly, Adviser to PM on Finance Dr Hafeez Shaikh was the country’s finance minister during Rahat Kaunain’s tenure as CCP chairperson.
Sources that during her tenure as the chairperson, Rahat Kaunain was accused of favouring her husband’s law firm as well as facilitating telecom companies during probes against them.
Recently, the CCP has remained in the spotlight after it was revealed in the sugar commission report that the commission remained silent over alleged cartelisation in the sugar industry. This resulted in the dismissal of the former chairperson of the regulatory body.
