Portfolio politics: Too many men, not enough ministries
As the demand for ministerial seats in Sindh outnumbers the supply, the PPP is scrambling to appease all parties of a massive coalition government.
The President House was a hub of planning and politicking on Saturday, as alongside discussions on the implementation of the Supreme Court’s rulings on Karachi’s law and order, the governor and chief minister of Sindh also attended meetings on the divisions of ministries in Sindh.
According to sources, President Zardari wants the disputes to be settled through consultation with his coalition partners. After the hard stance taken by the PML-Functional (PML-F), the president has turned down the option of handing back to recently returned Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) the ministries it previously held, the sources claim.
However, the coalition parties are concerned – both with they have, and what they could stand to lose.
After PML-Q leaders met Zardari a few days ago, senior PPP leader and Sindh minister Agha Siraj Khan Durrani met PML-Q chiefs Chaudhry Shujat Hussain and Chaudry Pervaiz Elahi on Saturday.
The topic of discussion was the PML-Q’s reservations over their party ministers in both the centre and Sindh. Sources told The Express Tribune that Durrani arrived in town straight from Karachi to meet the Chaudhrys and talk about the PML-Q’s portfolios and the make-up of the Sindh government.
The move comes on the back of the MQM’s reclamation of five ministries in Sindh, having rejoined the government. The MQM, it is being reported, wants the ministries that it lost after quitting the government. The ministries had been given to the PML-F and the PML-Q.
Despite limited representation in the Sindh Assembly, the PML-Q has four members in the Sindh cabinet. The party shifted from the opposition benches to the treasury in the Sindh Assembly when its members in the National Assembly joined the PPP-led coalition government in June 2011.
Sources said that Durrani told the Chaudhrys that after the MQM’s decision to rejoin the PPP-led coalition government, the portfolios which the PML-Q’s ministers currently have in the Sindh government might be reshuffled. The sources also said that the Chaudhrys discussed the Sindh chief minister’s performance, expressing disappointment.
The sources said that Durrani also discussed the press conference of PML-F leader Pir Pagara, who threatened to leave the coalition in Sindh if his party members’ ministerial portfolios were taken away. Pagara was in a similarly combative mood on Saturday, saying that he would not tolerate any more shuffling.
The PML-Q’s Central Information Secretary Kamil Ali Agha said that Durrani’s status in Sindh politics is very strong and that he enjoys a close relationship with the president. He said that Durrani’s meeting with the Chaudhrys was a follow-up to Zardari’s meeting. Asked if Durrani might replace Shah as chief minister, Agha said that change was possible but he had no further information.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 9th, 2011.
COMMENTS (8)
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In this regard the sindh government needs to learn from us, the neighbouring province of balochistan - see the official list of our ministers and ministries
http://www.balochistan.gov.pk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=844&Itemid=1117
the lesson to learn here is to invent new and purposeless departments such as 'ministry of Interprovincial harmony' or 'ministry of public health engineering'; both have ministers assigned to them in balochistan cabinet.
The politics is one of source of income where our politician are doing their business. The political parties are not domocratic political parties, except one or two. The are family parties to adjust their family member in business. the other family political parties are waiting their numbers to enter the business where no body involved or any hinderence.
@Pakistani: Please go read the first constitution of Pakistan. It is Zia who destroyed our state with his religious mindset. A secular state is much close to what an Islamic state should be today. To each his own. Unfortunately the blind orthodoxy fails to realize that.
@Critic: And how being non-secular will help us in this situation genius. What is a mistake is allowing idiots like you to comment.
This is easy to solve: Just like schools run different shifts, let the ministry also run different shifts and have different ministers for each shift.
After all its natural for all Politicians to want to serve the country as ministers:)
If the number of people exceeds the number of positions/ministries, why is there a picture of a vacant chair?!?!
Look at our political, religious and spiritual parties !! Are they servant of nation? surely not !! Creation of Pakistan was blunder mistake of our forefathers. The constitution of Pakistan must be corrected and the status of Islamic Republic should be changed to secular state.