The disagreement came to light during the meeting of representatives of both parties in Islamabad. When the PML-N asked the PPP to reduce the size of the federal cabinet in line with the 18th Amendment, members of the PPP delegation asked the PML-N “to put their house in order” before asking them to follow their agenda, officials privy to the proceedings of the meeting said.
“PPP asked PML-N that both the federal and Punjab government should adjust their cabinet size according to the 18th Amendment. But the PML-N was hesitant because Shahbaz is not ready to give up the 12 departments he currently heads,” PPP officials privy to the negotiations told The Express Tribune.
According to the 18th Amendment the number of ministers in the federal cabinet should be 11 per cent of the total number of members of both houses – 442 – while the provincial cabinet members should be 10 per cent of the total number of legislators in the provincial assembly – 371.
The federal cabinet’s strength is currently above 70, which is greater than the constitutional formula. On the other hand, the provincial cabinet in the Punjab is about 15 members short “of the desired strength”, according to the PPP. There are currently 22 ministers, advisers and special assistants that make up the Punjab cabinet.
“When the PPP asked the PML-N to appoint ministers against the vacant posts in the Punjab cabinet, PML-N members said that the 18th Amendment prescribes a ceiling and not a desired number of ministers.
PML-N told PPP that they were in no way violating the 18th Amendment because the number of provincial cabinet members was “not greater than what was prescribed”. Anything less than the ceiling should be acceptable, according to PML-N members,” said a PML-N official, also speaking on condition of anonymity.
PPP wants PML-N to give its members more ministries in the Punjab under the 40:60 per cent formula agreed upon in the coalition talks. Currently, out of 16 provincial ministers, seven belong to the PPP. To their frustration, the CM has been looking after 12 departments.
According to the 18th Amendment, a CM can appoint five advisers and as many special assistants. The positions of senior adviser and senior ministers have been abolished. Shahbaz Sharif currently has four advisers and a senior adviser, Sardar Zulfiqar Khan Khosa. The Punjab CM also has two special assistants, Manshaullah Butt and Senator Pervaiz Rashid.
According to PML-N officials, the PPP has demanded that the PML-N should make appointments against the vacant posts of advisers and special assistants and abolish the portfolios of senior advisers and senior ministers.
PML-N officials say that Shahbaz is reluctant to abolish the post of senior adviser because Khosa currently presides over cabinet meetings in Shahbaz’s presence. “Shahbaz trusts Khosa and does not want to remove him from the post he has,” they said.
The PPP had earlier asked the PML-N government to slash non-development expenditure in the province, along the same lines that the PML-N has demanded of the federal government.
According to party officials Shahbaz Sharif immediately agreed to curtailing expenditure, “The abolition of 550 posts was part of Punjab’s reform plan,” he added.
PPP officials told The Express Tribune that PPP’s two demands were an answer to the two demands (reduction in the size of the federal cabinet and slashing 30 per cent of its expenditure) that Nawaz Sharif has asked PPP to meet in 45 days. The deadline ends in the second week of February.
PPP officials said that the party has asked the PML-N to accept and implement PPP’s two demands in the Punjab before pressing the PPP to accept its reform agenda. PML-N officials said that Opposition Leader in National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and Nawaz Sharif on Saturday discussed the PPP demands at Raiwind.
PPP senior minister in the Punjab government, Raja Riaz, when contacted told The Express Tribune that PPP had discussed the PML-N’s reform proposals and would soon make public its position on various points.
Senator Pervaiz Rashid, the Punjab government’s spokesperson, was not available for his comments.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 30th, 2011.
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