To heart’s content: For those joining PML-N in Sindh, there’s a position for everyone

Party reorganises provincial cabinet after 12 years ‘to pacify disgruntled leaders and newcomers’۔

KARACHI: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has formally organised and restructured its Sindh cabinet after 12 years, in an apparent bid to pacify its disgruntled leaders and some new members coming into its fold.

The PML-N provincial cabinet now consists of around 100 members with 36 vice presidents and 51 joint secretaries.

It also includes 11 presidents and four general secretaries from the province’s five major divisions. The cabinet now also has new finance and information secretaries.

The top slots of the party’s Sindh chapter, the president and the general secretary, remain with Ghous Ali Shah and Saleem Zia, respectively. Meanwhile, senior leaders such as Marvi Memon, Liaquat Ali Jatoi, Mumtaz Ali Bhutto and his son Ameer Bhutto would be given positions in the party‘s federal cabinet.

PML-N Sindh media coordinator Dr Taj Mohammad told The Express Tribune that the cabinet has been reorganised for the first time in twelve years, after the 1999 military coup had sent the Nawaz Sharif government packing.

“The provincial cabinet is now a fully-fledged body,” he said. “This was needed since the party is gaining strength in Sindh and we want to accommodate everyone, including our new members.”

However, party insiders told The Express Tribune that the changes were made after Sindh National Front (SNF) Chairman Mumtaz Ali Bhutto, who recently merged his party with the PML-N, had complained to Nawaz for being sidelined by the provincial cabinet.

Perhaps it was for this reason that a number of SNF members were given prominent positions in the party late Saturday night.

SNF spokesman Anwar Gujjar was given the post of the PML-N Sindh vice president while Abdul Razzaq Bajwa and Ayub Shar were appointed provincial general secretary and vice president, respectively.

According to the new information secretary, Ali Akbar Gujjar, the positions were given on the directives of PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, who called for the proper reconstruction of the party in Sindh, aiming to gather electoral support across the province.

“The new cabinet comprises representatives from almost every district of the province,” he said. “These members will work in their respective areas to carry the party’s mission to every city and village in the province.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 2^nd, 2012.