Committee recommends halving Cabinet

Final decision likely to come when the president returns from Japan.

KARACHI: The number of departments in the Sindh government is likely to go down from 44 to 22 if the recommendations of a ministerial committee are followed.

The three-member committee, comprising law minister Ayaz Soomro, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) parliamentary leader Syed Sardar Ahmed and finance minister Murad Ali Shah, met Thursday and will make a final decision soon. The committee was formed to minimise the financial burden and abolish redundant posts and departments in the Sindh government.

An official said that, “not only departments but some redundant posts, such as DOs [district officers] and DDOs [deputy district officers], will be abolished”. Initially, the ministers wanted to abolish the posts of lower-grade officers but later decided to do away with unnecessary posts to save resources. The government also wants to bring legislation on this issue, he said.

“Without the legislation, the posts of EDOs [executive district officers] and DOs of DDOs in the local government cannot be removed since they have legal cover,” another official said.

The MQM’s Sardar Ahmed said that nothing has been decided so far but he agreed that a proposal to minimise the “extra burden” on the government is under consideration. “Give us more time and we will give you good news. There is consensus between the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the MQM on many issues.”

On the other hand, the reports of downsizing the cabinet were refuted by Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah in an interview with a television channel. The government is neither “rightsizing” nor “left and downsizing”, he said.

“We are not going to bring any changes in our cabinet. The members of the cabinet will continue their work without any hindrance.”

Government officials have speculated that a final decision on the size of the cabinet will be made once the president returns from Japan.

Both coalition partners have reached an agreement on the proposal before the president’s arrival, said an official. There is also a plan to remerge those departments which were bifurcated to ‘appease’ differing coalition partners. It is expected that the forthcoming cabinet will have a majority formed by the PPP and the MQM while one ministry each will be given to the rest of the partners.

So far, the PPP and the MQM have held more than five meetings at the CM and Governor houses but the developments were not shared with the media. “These are our personal meetings and we discuss internal issues within the departments,” explained Minister for Environment and Alternative Energy Shaikh Muhammad Afzal, who supports to the MQM.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 19^th, 2011.