Seven-member caretaker Sindh cabinet sworn in

A seven-member caretaker Sindh cabinet comprising relatively lesser-known and some new faces were sworn in on Friday. Sindh Governor Mohammad Zubair administered the oath to the members in a ceremony at the Governor House.

Caretaker Sindh chief minister Fazal-ur-Rehman, provincial police chief IGP AD Khowaja, senior government officials, retired bureaucrats and civil society members attended the oath-taking ceremony, which was conducted by Chief Secretary Rizwan Memon.

Later, after laying a floral wreath and offering Fateha at the mausoleum of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah with his new cabinet, CM Rehman told the media that he has inducted non-political and respectable people in the cabinet.

He said Sindh was the first province to appoint a caretaker chief executive and now he is the first to induct a caretaker cabinet. “My cabinet is balanced, and we have no agenda except to hold free, fair and transparent elections.”

Rehman said he will try his best to establish good governance during his tenure. Responding to a question, he said: “We have inducted only seven ministers because a small cabinet will be enough for routine work. We can induct one or two more if needed.”

On another query, he said he has chaired two meetings for proper distribution of irrigation water so that growers of tail-end areas receive some water. “We have also taken a decision regarding proper distribution of water in Karachi.”  

Cabinet meeting

Earlier, presiding over his first informal cabinet meeting, CM Rehman said that holding free and fair elections is a big responsibility and, God willing, the cabinet will prove to be neutral and impartial in this matter.

“This is our introductory meeting, and after the allotment of portfolios to the ministers, a formal meeting will be held in which secretaries of important departments will give presentation to the cabinet on the performance of their respective departments.”

During the informal meeting, the cabinet members introduced themselves and the chief executive introduced them to the provincial secretaries, including the Sindh Planning & Development Board chairman and the principal secretary.

The ministers

Khair Muhammad Junejo, Mushtaq Ahmed Shah, Jameel Yusuf, Dr Junaid Shah, Col (retd) Dost Mohammad Chandio, Dr Sadia Virk Rizvi and Simon John Daniel are the caretaker ministers who took oath on Friday.

Junejo, who is affiliated with the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional, has been allocated the agriculture, supply & prices; cooperative; forest & wildlife and livestock & fisheries departments.

Mushtaq Ahmed Shah, a former provincial police chief, has been allocated the irrigation, inter-provincial coordination, public health engineering & rural development and works & services departments.

Yusuf, a former Citizens-Police Liaison Committee chief, has been allocated the environment, climate change & coastal development; information & archives; information science & technology and law & parliamentary affairs departments. With this set of portfolios, he is supposed to act as the spokesman for the caretaker government.

Dr Junaid Shah, son of former provincial sports minister and renowned orthopaedic surgeon Dr Muhammad Ali Shah, has been allocated the culture, tourism & antiquities; energy and sports & youth affairs departments, as well as the Sindh Technical Education & Vocational Training Authority.

Col (retd) Chandio, a former official of the Pakistan Army, has been allocated the mines & mineral development, rehabilitation and transport & mass transit departments.

Dr Sadia, associated with a private hospital in Clifton, has been allocated the school education, college education, special education, population welfare, social welfare, women development and universities & boards departments, as well as rural health centres’ vertical programmes (primary health facilities) and secondary health facilities.

Daniel has been allocated the human rights, katchi abadis & spatial development, labour & human resources and minority affairs departments. The CM has retained several important portfolios, including the home, prisons, finance, planning & development, local government, excise & taxation and revenue departments.

Earlier media reports had suggested a much larger cabinet, comprising up to 19 members. A delegation of the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) had met the CM on June 5 and conveyed their reservations over the names circulating in the media as probable members for the caretaker cabinet.

The GDA delegation apprised the caretaker chief executive that the likely members had clear links with certain political parties. They expressed reservations that if they were to be inducted, it would be next to impossible to conduct the general elections in a free, fair and transparent manner.

By the evening of June 7, it was learnt that the caretaker cabinet to be formed in Sindh would comprise lesser members than previously believed, with newer faces, unlike the names earlier doing the rounds in the electronic media and on social media.  

Complaint cell

The caretaker chief executive has set up a General Elections Complaint & Coordination Cell at the CM House in connection with public complaints regarding the ongoing electoral activities across the province and to coordinate with the relevant authorities and the cells established by the district administrations.

The complaint cell will submit a daily comprehensive report to CM Rehman. Public complaints will be received by the duty officer on the following telephone numbers: 99202051-4, 99207349, 99207568 and 99202065. Complaints can also be faxed to 99202007 and 99202000.