PM’S adviser on Power and Petroleum steps down

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Power and Petroleum Tabish Gauhar announced on Tuesday that he has resigned from the post, almost a year ater his appointment.

“Ater a year of public service, I’ve decided to call it a day to return to my family. It’s been the privilege of a lifetime to serve the country, to the best of my abilities, in an honorary capacity. I shall remain indebted to the PM for giving me this opportunity,” he tweeted ater stepping down.

He added that while challenges in the energy sector were manifold, he had “no doubt that under the able leadership of Hammad Azhar, the Ministry of Energy team will continue to stay the course on structural reforms.”

Ater Gauhar resigned, the Cabinet Division issued a notification, saying that Prime Minister Imran Khan has accepted his resignation with effect from Sept.20.

Gauhar, a former managing director of KElectric (KE) and a senior executive of troubled Abraaj Capital, had replaced Shahzad Qasim as the SAPM on power in October last year.

At the time, officials said Gauhar had complained about his limited scope of work at a cabinet meeting during the course of discussions on reforms. An official had said Gauhar was fed up with interference in his workings and too many cooks in the pot and had complained that he did not know whom to report - Minister for Planning Asad Umar, then energy minister Omar Ayub, erstwhile SAPM on petroleum Nadeem Babar or the prime minister.

Gauhar’s high profile interviews among leading channels and newspapers — suggesting inclusion of Ke-shanghai deal through the China-pakistan Economic Corridor and revival of Pakistan Electric Power Company had also perturbed some key players in the field, another official had said.

To top it all, Gauhar was reported to have come under pressure following an investigation report on oil crisis which blamed Byco Petroleum of widespread wrongdoings and called for further investigations. Gauhar had worked at Byco as the chairperson of its audit and human resource commitees. Later in March this year, he was given the additional charge of the premier’s aide on petroleum, replacing Babar.

Last month, he had writen a leter to Azhar, pointing out multiple challenges in the energy sector and urging that strategies be chalked out and “holistic and structural reforms” be made to address them.

Gauhar is also the founder and chairperson of Oasis Energy, a management consultancy firm in the power and energy sector. He has a first-class honours degree from King’s College, London, and also an MBA degree from the Institute of Business Administration in Pakistan.