How Naveed was edged out by a Zardari friend?

ISLAMABAD: The unceremonious exit of Naveed Qamar from the Finance Ministry has led many to wonder what prompted his boss to remove him, though he even sacrificed his political mentor and old friend Makhdoom Amin Fahim in getting the job.

It may sound as a coincidence to many that he was shown the door and asked to revert back to his old Privatisation Ministry the day when he miserably failed to stop the defiant fertiliser importers and producers from raising prices of DAP from Rs 3,150 to Rs 5,500 per bag just when the sowing season was about to start.

This shocking price hike in DAP at critical time of sowing might frustrate the government plans to get a bumper wheat crop on the one hand and result in more poverty in rural areas on the other.

Meanwhile, a source said, the move came as a major shock to Naveed Qamar, as he was not expecting sacrifice of his ministry to an outsider Shaukat Tareen.

In his bid to become the finance minister, Naveed had even risked losing the next election, as he always used to get elected from his constituency with the blessing of Amin Fahim, who had turned hostile to Naveed Qamar after he betrayed him, someone whom Fahim had introduced in politics.

But before being asked to quit the ministry, Naveed Qamar had managed to get his father, Qamaruzzaman Shah, appointed at the lucrative post of the chairman of Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL).