Cabinet reshuffle done with CM’s consent: information minister

Shaukat Yousafzai says decision aimed at improving governance in <br /> the province

PESHAWAR: The provincial minister Shaukat Yousafzai on Sunday said that the reshuffle in the provincial cabinet was done with approval of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister Mahmood Khan.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Yousafzai rejected reports that the K-P CM has shared his resentment with the prime minister over inclusion of new faces into the provincial cabinet without his consent.

He said the reshuffling of the provincial cabinet was carried out in accordance with the instructions of the chief minister. The decision was aimed at improving governance in the province and to bring more efficient minds into the cabinet, he added.

The provincial minister revealed that in the second phase women lawmakers would be inducted. Women empowerment is part of the government’s agenda and for this purpose, women parliamentarians would be given the opportunity, he added.

He said that they were waiting for the directives of the prime minister and central leadership of the ruling PTI for inclusion of women members of the provincial assembly. Female lawmakers whether they had won election or had been elected on reserved seats would be given the cabinet slots.

Yousafzai added that the change in the provincial cabinet was aimed to give responsibilities to all the members according to their expertise and who could do what in the best possible way.

The minister said he had already shared with media that the reshuffle would take place and it happened with the consent and support of the chief minister and prime minister.

In response to a question, he said in the first phase they tested the expertise of the ministers who could deliver and later it was realised that the change in the provincial cabinet was inevitable to improve the governance and service delivery to the public.

The shakeup in the cabinet is unlikely to stop there, the information minister said, adding that in the second phase portfolios of some existing ministers might be changed.

 

 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 6^th, 2020.