Shuffling the deck

It is becoming harder and harder to remember which individual holds what portfolios in the current federal cabinet. Like a deck of cards, there is constant shuffling and then reshuffling of those who hold prime posts. Just a year after Dr.Firdous Ashiq Awan was appointed the PM’s special assistant for information, she has been replaced abruptly and two other persons brought in to perform the role of handling the information ministry. Before Dr Firdous, current Minister for Science and Technology Chaudhry Fawad Hussain had held the post of federal minister for information from August 2018 to April 2019. It does not seem there is any sense of longevity in a cabinet which has seen almost constant changes and reshuffling. Just three weeks ago, a major cabinet reshuffle took place following the wheat and sugar crisis. Minister for Food Security Khusro Bakhtiar was switched over to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, a somewhat mysterious move if he was suspected of wrongdoing of any kind. Razzak Dawood was removed from his post as advisor for commerce and at least five other changes made. One of the most critical was the loss of favour for Jehangir Tareen, not formally a cabinet member but seen as one of the PM’s closest allies. It seems Prime Minister Imran Khan finds it difficult to determine who the right person is for the task assigned to them. Even before this, Asad Umar, put forward as the star of the PTI throughout its election campaign, was removed as finance minister within days of his trip to Washington.

The uncertainty not only makes it difficult for journalists, analysts or ordinary citizens to keep track of the cabinet and its policies but also impacts the running of government. We hope however that as far as information and broadcasting go, this time the changes will stick. The leader of the house in the Senate, Shibli Faraz, who takes over as information minister is reputed to be a soft-spoken, rational man with considerable experience. Former DG ISPR Lt-Gen (r) Asim Saleem Bajwa also has extensive experience dealing with the media, given his previous post. The two should, theoretically speaking at least, work well together as a team.

The changes are almost dizzying. There had been rumours for some time that the PM was not happy with his media team. The fact that the Telethon he conducted a few weeks ago to collect funds for pandemic relief was handled by those personally closest to him and not his information setup was an indication of this. What we hope for now is that the current government sticks to the cabinet it has, since Pakistan at this moment cannot afford to be distracted from the rising cases of Covid-19. We also hope that the new media and information team chooses to mend whatever broken ties there may be with the media. At this moment, Pakistan needs a united stand against a ruthless killer pandemic. In this, the role of the press too is very important.