Punjab government: Cabinet expansion on hold till May

All the new ministry hopefuls drawn from central Punjab.

LAHORE:

Cabinet expansion in the Punjab will have to wait awhile as the chief minister has left on a trip to China.

Five Punjab cabinet hopefuls have been left in the lurch as plans to expand the cabinet are placed on hold till the end of the first week of May.

The names of the aspiring candidates will be released when Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif returns to the country at that time.

The Express Tribune has learnt that the CM had finalised the names of Shahzadi Umerzadi Tiwana from Khushab, Rana Afzal from Faisalabad, Mumtaz Jajja from Bahawalpur, Zaeem Qadri from Lahore and Ali Haider Noor Niazi of JUP before leaving for China.

According to sources in the PML-N, if approved by Nawaz Sharif and barring any last-minute changes, Tiwana would get the education portfolio, Afzal information and technology and Jajja livestock. The portfolios of Qadri and Niazi are yet to be finalised.

The source also said that a decision had been taken in principle no one from the Unification Bloc would be included in the cabinet. The decision came on the heels of the strong hostility shown by the opposition towards the Unification Bloc members which paralysed the Assembly for four days in the previous session.

The current cabinet is filled with PML-N members from central Punjab, led by Khwaja Saad Rafiq. PML-N members aligned with Sirdar Zulfiqar Khosa are marginalised which could deepen the rift between the two factions.

Women MPAs on reserved seats were hoping that one of their own would be included in the cabinet. However, Tiwana won on a general seat and has the backing of the chief minister who gives a preference to MPAs on general seats.

Party bigwigs Col (retd.) Shuja Khanzada and Nawab Shamas Haider may create trouble within the ranks about the focus on central Punjab considering northern Punjab has been ignored in the expansion.

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