Ministers of ‘no use’

Public comments about teammates, particularly from the skipper, are often demoralising, if not humiliating

It was purely meant for public consumption. Prime Minister Imran Khan’s explanations about his cabinet reshuffle decision, made during Friday’s public gathering in Orakzai tribal district, were aimed at telling the people present there as well as those listening to him through airwaves that his was a well-thought-out decision taken in sheer public interest and national wellbeing. “Ministers of no use were removed” was the gist of the prime minister’s justification which was accompanied by the warning that ministers in the redesigned cabinet will be under a constant performance watch, and those failing to perform will have to go.

Public representatives, especially those in charge of ministries, must be competent, hardworking and honest, and there must be no compromise on that when assigning the various cabinet slots. However, public comments about teammates, and that too from the skipper himself, are often demoralising, if not humiliating, and do cause ill will in the team. That the finance minister — who lost his job in the cabinet shake-up and is replaced by an outsider — may be drawn into a reactionary mode by such public comments and feel like making his version of the story public — at a later stage, if not now — cannot be dismissed.

Moreover, poor selection also speaks of the capability of selectors. Therefore, the judgment skills of the prime minister himself come under question just as the performance of those he selected as his ministers. The time chosen to make the changes — given that talks are going on with the IMF for an economic bailout package and the budget month is approaching fast — is just like bringing in new players just before an event as big as the World Cup. It is, however, hoped that the prime minister will have taken all necessary aspects in view before shuffling his cabinet and will not find himself making similar justifications in another couple of months or so from now.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 21^st, 2019.

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