PPP appears reluctant to join federal cabinet

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) appears to be reluctant to join the federal cabinet due to division in its ranks as most of its leaders are seeking support for electoral reforms without taking ministries while others are of the view that the coalition government won’t last for even two months if they opt to keep to the sidelines.

In this regard, sources said PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari have started consultations on the matter in the light of different and contradictory views.

The sources said most of the PPP leaders are seeking the new federal government’s support for electoral reforms without taking charge of ministries.

Some of the leaders are of the opinion that they should join the federal cabinet for political stability. They believe that participation is necessary for political stability, and if they did not join the cabinet, the coalition government would not be able to function for even two months.

A decision on the PPP’s inclusion in the federal cabinet will be taken in the next few days, they added.

Following an in-house change through the vote of no-confidence, the erstwhile joint opposition moved to the treasury benches after ousting the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and elected Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif as the 23rd prime minister of Pakistan.

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Further, it emerged on Monday that matters were being worked out to decide how ministries would be divided among the new coalition partners.

The sources said that the opposition parties were holding consultations on a formula for forming the next government.

They said that in the first phase, allies would be accommodated in the cabinet as much as possible, and in the second phase, the PPP and the PML-N members would be given some ministries.

The National Assembly speaker’s slot, along with foreign ministry and other ministries, will be given to the PPP. The PPP chairman has refused to take any official post in the new government, they added.

“The opposition alliance has decided to impeach President Arif Alvi and replace him with either former president Asif Ali Zardari or Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman.”

They said that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan is likely to get two to three ministries, along with the governorship of Sindh, while the Balochistan Awami Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid are likely to get two and one ministries, respectively.

The added that the JUI-F would be given two to three ministries, Balochistan National Party-Mengal two, Jamhoori Watan Party one, Awami National Party one and Aslam Bhootani will also be given one ministry. The PML-N is likely to bag the most ministries, including interior, information, railways, finance and defence.