Cabinet expands as three more ministers sworn in

ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet expanded on Saturday as three new ministers took oath at a ceremony held here at the President House.

President Asif Ali Zardari administered oath to ministers Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, Arbab Muhammad Zahir and Sardar Asif Ahmed Ali, hours before the budget was presented in the National Assembly.

In the new cabinet, Hafeez Sheikh has been sworn in as the finance minister, Ahmed Ali as the minister of education while Muhammad Zahir has been made the minister for narcotics control.

After the additions, the strength of the federal cabinet has increased from 39 to 42. Consequently, advisers to the prime minister have been reduced from five to three.  And the number of state ministers reduced to 17 from 18.

According to official sources, adviser to the prime minister and Chairman Constitutional Reforms Committee, Senator Raza Rabbani was asked to take oath as the fourth minister but he refused to do so, despite repeated requests from Prime Minister (PM) Yousaf Raza Gilani and senior leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party, Khurshid Shah.

Rabbani is reported to have said that it will be difficult for him to impartially perform his duties as chairman of the Constitutional Reforms Committee, if he becomes a federal minister.

During a meeting with the PM, Rabbani said that people have reservations over some ministers of the federal cabinet and he will not become a part of it until those reservations are removed.

The oath-taking ceremony was attended by the PM and federal ministers including Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, Babar Awan, Rehman Malik, Mian Manzoor Watto, Qamar Zaman Kaira, and Babar Ghauri.

Published in the Express Tribune, 6^th, 2010.