PM-Nisar meetup: Cabinet to be expanded after budget session

ISLAMABAD:

Five more ministers will be inducted into the federal cabinet soon after the budget session of parliament, The Express Tribune has learnt.

The decision to expand the cabinet echoed in what is being dubbed a reconciliatory meeting between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his top security aide Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, sources said. “The cabinet expansion has been long overdue, but could not materialise due to some inevitable circumstances,” said one minister, who attended Tuesday’s meeting.

Premier Nawaz and Interior Minister Nawaz had an hour-long one-on-one meeting at the Prime Minister House before they were joined by other ministers who were happy to see the two reconciled, sources said. Later the pair boarded the same car to travel to the Prime Minister’s office for the cabinet meeting

In their meeting, according to sources, the prime minister and Nisar agreed to expand the cabinet asap. And five more ministers are likely to be inducted soon after the budget session of parliament which has been convened on June 4. Currently, the cabinet comprises 19 ministers, nine ministers for state, two advisers and nine special assistants, according to the cabinet division website.  Of the five new ministers, sources said, most will be recommended by Interior Minister Nisar.

The cabinet met after an unusually long hiatus of over three months. And the delay was attributed to differences between Premier Nawaz and Chaudhry Nisar. The differences were mainly due to the prime minister’s tilt towards a group in the ruling PML-N, led by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.

The group that enjoys the support of 18 cabinet members – including Khawaja Asif, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Anusha Rehman, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and some advisers – put Nisar ill at ease as he only had the support of Minister for Defence Production Rana Tanveer, Speaker Ayaz Sadiq and Zahid Hamid, who has been removed from the cabinet on court orders.

Though Nisar was unhappy with the prime minister, he continued to look after his ministry – and neither Nawaz nor any of his aides tried to interfere in his ministry’s affairs, source said, adding that Shahbaz Sharif, the chief minister of Punjab, played the key role in brokering rapprochement between the two.

Apart from this, Nawaz and Nisar also discussed other issues related to the interior ministry, Nacta funding, raise in salaries of FIA and National Action Plan, etc.

Federal Minister Mushahidullah Khan, who is also PML-N’s secretary information, said that Nisar was an asset for the ruling party. In governments difference of opinion is not uncommon, he said. However, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is the leader for all. “Tuesday’s meeting between Chaudhry Nisar and Premier Nawaz was a meeting between the party chief and one of his senior leaders where government affairs and party matters were discussed,” he added.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, May 27^th, 2015.