PM now heads a jumbo cabinet

[LRE]

PM now heads a jumbo cabinet



MQM, JUI stay away as 22 federal ministers, 18 ministers of state sworn in


ISLAMABAD: After a gruelling wait, the PPP-led coalition government expanded the federal cabinet on Monday by inducting 40 ministers, pushing the total to 55 and making it one of the largest cabinets in Pakistan’s history.

The new faces in the cabinet include 22 federal ministers and 18 ministers of state. President Asif Ali Zardari administered oath to the new ministers. Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, Speaker National Assembly Dr Fehmida Mirza, ministers, parliamentarians and high-ranking officials attended the oath-taking ceremony.

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl stayed away from joining the cabinet, an indication of differences with the PPP over the apportionment of portfolios and the number of ministries they were offered. The cabinet expansion came on a day when outside the Darbar Hall of the presidency, where the ceremony took place, lawyers and political activists chanted slogans against the November 3, 2007 imposition of state of emergency.

The surprising aspect of the cabinet expansion was the absence of the names of much-talked-about PML-Q forward bloc aspirants from the list of new ministers. Those who were sworn in on Monday belong to the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), the Awami National Party (ANP), Fata, the BNP-Awami and the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional.

As expected, the Punjab got the lion’s share in the cabinet expansion as 10 federal ministers and 11 ministers of state were taken from the largest province. Six federal ministers and 3 ministers of states were taken from Sindh, two federal ministers, belonging to the PPP, from the NWFP and one minister of state from Balochistan. From the ANP, two ministers of state were inducted while the PML-Functional got one federal minister and one minister of state, both belonging to Sindh. Senator Israrullah Zehri, who belongs to the BNP-Awami, was also sworn in as minister.

Senior PPP leader Makhdoom Amin Fahim has been appointed as a senior minister with the portfolio of Commerce. Mian Raza Rabbani, who will also hold the office of the leader of house in the Senate, has been given the portfolio of Inter-provincial Coordination.

Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani also reshuffled the portfolios of some of his ministers. Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, who was looking after the Ministry of Local Government and Development has now been shifted to the Ministry of Railways and Syed Naveed Qamar, who was looking after the Ministry for Ports and Shipping, has now been given the Ministry of Privatisation and Investment.

Najamuddin Khan got the Ministry of Sports, leaving the charge of the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions. The portfolio of Khawaja Muhammad Khan Hoti has also been changed to the Ministry of Narcotics, which was previously being looked after by Nazar Muhammad Gondal. Gondal has been made incharge of the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock.

The names of the newly inducted federal ministers are: Makhdoom Amin Fahim (senior minister with the portfolio of Commerce), Mian Manzoor Ahmad Wattoo (Industries and Production), Hamid Saeed Kazmi (Religious Affairs), Dr Babar Awan (Parliamentary Affairs), Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan (Social Welfare), Rana Muhammad Farooq Saeed Khan, Samina Khalid Ghurki, Abdul Qayyum Khan Jatoi, Shahbaz Bhatti (Minority Affairs), Makhdoom Shahabuddin, Syed Mumtaz Alam Gilani, Mian Raza Rabbani (Inter-provincial Coordination), Pir Aftab Hussain Shah Jilani, Mir Ijaz Hussain Jakhrani (Health), Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani (Education), Shahid Hussain Bhutto, Dr Arbab Alamgir Khan, Waqar Ahmad Khan, Lal Muhammad Khan, Mir Israrullah Zehri, Abdur Razzaq Thaheem (Kashmir and Northern Areas Affairs) and Noorul Haq Qadri.

The names of the ministers of state are: Tariq Anis, Imtiaz Safdar Waraich, Mehreen Anwar Raja (Parliamentary Affairs), Tasneem Ahmad Qureshi (Interior), Muhammad Afzal Sindhu, Ghulam Fareed Kathia, Rafiq Ahmad Jamali (Food and Agriculture), Sardar Nabeel Gabool (Ports and Shipping), Muhammad Jadam Mangrio, Shagufta Jamani, Hina Rabbani Khar (Economic Affairs), Sardar Saleem Haider and Nawabzada Malik Ahmad Khan (minister of state for Foreign Affairs), Syed Samsam Ali Shah (Information and Broadcasting), Dr Ayatullah Durrani, Abdul Rafiq, Arbab Muhammad Zahir and Masood Abbas (Science and Technology).

http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=18152

[LRE]

http://www.express.com.pk/20081104

[LRE]

http://www.express.com.pk/20081105

[LRE]

http://www.express.com.pk/20081105