PM may appoint 3 aides as ministers

ISLAMABAD:

Prime Minister Imran Khan is likely to appoint Finance Adviser Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Commerce Adviser Razak Dawood and Special Assistant to the PM on National Health Services Dr Faisal Sultan as federal ministers for six months in the wake of an Islamabad High Court ruling that unelected aides to the PM could not head government committees.

The premier has consulted with his legal team to discuss options to deal with the complications arising out of the court verdict as four committees of the federal cabinet are headed by Shaikh.

He can appoint an unelected individual as minister for six months under Article 91 of the Constitution. The previous PML-N government had appointed Dr Miftah Ismail as the federal finance minister in a similar manner.

Sources said Shaikh, Dawood and Sultan could be appointed as federal ministers until the Senate elections next year.

They are likely to given Senate tickets by the ruling PTI so that they could continue holding these positions after becoming members of the upper house of parliament.

The IHC in its judgment had set aside a notification through which the premier had reconstituted the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCoP) headed by Shaikh.

The other committees headed by the finance adviser include the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet, Cabinet Committee on State-owned Enterprises (CCSOEs) and the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC).

The Cabinet Division, which is the custodian of the official business of the federal cabinet, has prepared a summary for the PM’s Office for the reconstitution of the four committees following the court ruling.

If the premier decides to reconstitute the four economic committees in light of the IHC judgment and the Cabinet Division’s summary, it will have direct implications for the finance adviser.

The economic policymaking is being carried out at the ECC level and even the authority to grant additional budget during the course of the fiscal year rests with the ECC and the federal cabinet.

The IHC decision has affected Shaikh, Commerce Adviser Razak Dawood, Institutional Reforms Adviser Dr Ishrat Husain and special assistants Dr Fasial Sultan, Nadeem Baber, Tabish Gauhar and Dr Waqar Masood as all of them hold important portfolios.

IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah had also ruled in August this year that unelected advisers and special assistants to the prime minister could not exercise executive or administrative powers in the functioning of the government or speak on its behalf.