Cabinet panel constituted to further empower ministers, MPs

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has constituted a ministerial committee to consider empowering ministers and members of parliament with powers that are available to even ordinary members of the bureaucracy but not to elected representatives.

Informed sources reveal that a four-member committee, headed by Shafqat Mehmood and comprising Pervez Khattak, Dr Shireen Mazari and Dr Ishrat Hussain, has been assigned the task of considering if MPs and cabinet members could be included in boards of different government entities and be entrusted with the authority to attest documents as is being done by gazetted officers.

The sources say that in a recent cabinet meeting, several ministers complained that despite being elected representatives and cabinet members, politicians do not enjoy the powers that even ordinary members of the bureaucracy enjoy.

It was pointed out that while a Grade-17 schoolteacher is authorised to attest documents, a sitting minister or MNA does not possess even this authority despite holding a far more important position than a government servant.

The ministers also said that federal secretaries, additional secretaries and other senior members of the bureaucracy are also mademembers of boards or governing bodies of different government entities but at present an MNA cannot be given this role.

Some ministers, it is said, also spoke out against the bureaucracy and alleged that the bureaucrats are not cooperating with the politicians owing to which the government’s performance is being affected.

Following this discussion, the prime minister constituted the ministerial committee to look into the objections of the ministers and consider extending their role and authority to match the powers enjoyed by the bureaucracy.

Interestingly, members of Imran Khan’s cabinet have already been given an extended role in 2019 in the appointment of key bureaucrats in their respective domains.

The two major ‘reforms’ undertaken by the PTI government and concerning the civil bureaucracy actually further empowers the federal ministers. Apparently, these reforms were introduced to improve the performance of the civil bureaucracy but many in the civil service believe that these initiatives have further weakened and politicised the bureaucracy.

Not only has a federal minister’s consent in the appointment of federal secretaries for their respective ministries and divisions been made mandatory but ministers have also now been given an important role in the appointment of heads of key attached departments, corporations, authorities etc.

Previously, federal ministers had no role in the appointment of federal secretaries. Similarly, ministers played no part in the appointment of heads of corporations, attached departments, authorities etc. But now, as per the present government’s ‘reforms’, the federal ministers have become far more powerful than before. This empowerment of federal ministers has actually helped cabinet members to maintain a stronger grip on the civilian bureaucracy under them.

Interestingly, when the civil service reforms proposals were initially presented before the cabinet, the aim was to ensure merit-based appointments and the security of tenure for key bureaucrats – federal secretaries as well as heads of corporations, attached departments, authorities, regulatory bodies etc.

However, the reforms ended up giving ministers a key role in these appointments. An influential group of ministers in the federal cabinet succeeded in persuading the prime minister and the top decision makers that ministers need to have their say in such appointments as they are the ones who are held responsible for the performance of their ministries.

As a result, the minister concerned has also been made part of the selection committee for the appointment of a federal secretary. Once appointed, the secretary is to remain on probation for the first six months and his continuation will be subject to a performance review by the PM and the minister in charge. A secretary’s tenure, which was previously three years but was hardly respected in most cases, has been reduced to two years. It can, however, be extended for a year but after yet another performance review for which again the minister concerned would have an important say.

Following another cabinet decision, the concerned federal minister has been made head of the selection committee that recommends the appointment of the chief executive officer/ head of 65 different corporations, attached departments, regulatory bodies, authorities etc.

Interestingly, the selection committee also includes the secretary of the same ministry/ division whose appointment and continuation is greatly subject to the pleasure of his minister.

Additionally, it is the concerned Division, under the same minister and the same secretary, that will furnish the job description, the eligibility criteria and the skills required for the appointment of a CEO of a corporation etc.

The selection committee decides the evaluation parameters for the job. The concerned Division places a public advertisement in leading newspapers and posts it on the relevant government websites. The Division then submits the list of eligible candidates to the selection committee for initial review. After the shortlisting is done, the Division arranges the interviews. The selection committee forwards a list of three to five candidates to the appointing authority, which is the prime minister.