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| ‘Incompetent’ ministers to face the axe in cabinet reshuffling |
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Saturday, July 04, 2009
By Tariq Butt
ISLAMABAD: Only PPP’s incompetent ministers may face the axe in the cabinet reshuffle, while nominees of the coalition partners shall not be touched.
The share of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) allies in the cake is also being touted to increase to reflect their numerical parliamentary strength. Presently, the allies have just nine ministers with some grumbling at not being given due representation in the federal cabinet in commensuration with their parliamentary tally.
According to a source, there was also a possibility that MQM may get two more cabinet berths, given the recent meeting of Interior Minister Rehman Malik with MQM supremo Altaf Hussain in London. But, the source said, in case the PM expresses his displeasure with the performance of any minister from the allies’ ranks, then his replacement would be the prerogative of his respective party leadership.
Another source ruled out a massive reshuffle or dropping of any large number of ministers. A few extremely “incompetent” ministers of state, whose names are not even known by many people, are heading for the ouster, he said.
At present, Dr Farooq Sattar, Babar Khan Ghauri, Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, Mir Israrullah Zehri, Maulana Attaur Rehman, Rehmatullah Kakar, Justice (retd) Abdur Razzak Thaheem, Hameedullah Jan Afridi and Noorul Haq Qadri belong to the allied parties including the MQM, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl, Balochistan National Party-Awami, Functional League and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).
The law portfolio that is vacant since March this year after the elevation of Farooq H Naek as the Senate chairman is likely to be filled now. A reluctant Raza Rabbani, who is expected to be made minister even though he has constantly refused to be inducted into the cabinet, is being named for this slot.
A recent report in this newspaper pointed out that almost half of the federal ministries have hardly any work to do but they were still created and are being maintained as independent identities at the cost of taxpayers’ money, merely because the scheme suits both the political masters and their subservient but crafty civilian bureaucracy.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
