A file photo of the National Assembly. PHOTO: FILE
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, has delayed unveiling of his cabinet, which was expected to be sworn in soon after his oath-taking on Wednesday.
Sources in the Presidency, where President Asif Ali Zardari had to administer oath to new cabinet members, told The Express Tribune that they had not received any schedule regarding a swearing-in ceremony for today (Thursday).
Sources in PML-N said the new premier was still in the process of ‘carefully’ analysing names of the lawmakers who will form his cabinet in the first phase. The cabinet will likely take oath on Friday or Saturday, they added.
Since most of PML-N lawmakers have been elected from Punjab, and office of premier and the speaker have already gone to the province, it is a challenging task for Nawaz to choose right people from other provinces for a balanced representation, sources said.
“Nawaz is very careful in his choice. He wants to ensure right men for the right job this time,” a PML-N lawmaker said requesting anonymity.
Moreover, Nawaz will be in Lahore today (Thursday) to witness the election for leader of the house in the Punjab Assembly. His younger brother, Shahbaz Sharif, is all set to be elected for a second consecutive term.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 6th, 2013.
COMMENTS (17)
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@ khalid
I think you need to be more worried about Nawaz Sharif than the proposed members of his cabinet. If he continues along the same lines, I see a bleak future and it will probably be the end of the road for him.
I did not ride the high morality ground. Rather , I wanted to state the fact that having worked at Airblue during the post crash period and directly as a member of the team , I can assure you that we wanted to have the report released to the public as much as you or any God fearing citizen out there. We continuously lobbied to have it released but the PPP came up with a new excuse to delay the process at every stage.
The Airblue crash will not be settled until those responsible for the crash are put to justice but blaming Airblue or any one individual is unfair. All I can say is that no one at Airblue played any role in hindering the air crash investigation.
I would also discourage you to use mere speculation and hearsay to judge anyone's motives. As I pointed out earlier, most of the news on the media is based on unverified facts and couldn't be further from the truth.
@khalid
Regarding the claim that Shahid Khaqan is a US citizen, i can assure you that this is not the case. He was educated in the US and worked over there for a while, but moved back to Pakistan in the late 80s after his father Muhammad Khaqan passed away tragically in the Ojhri camp incident.
A major shareholder in Airblue is infact a US citizen so it is easy to get confused in this case.
@Khalid
It was not my attention to malign you or anyone else on this forum. You had merely expressed your opinion, but unfortunately it was mostly based on unverified facts reported in the media, most of which are far from the truth these days.
Regarding the latest on the Airblue incident, i can confirm that around 90 percent of the families have been fully compensated to the tune of Rs. 5.5 million per deceased passenger . According to Pakistan Aviation Law pertaining to crash victims, at the time of the incident the airline was only liable to pay around Rs. 40k per passenger. Airblue was able to negotiate with the insurers involved and raise the amount to 1 million and eventually to 5.5 million per victim.The remaining 10 percent is still pending as the families involved have either been unable to provide proper documentation or have internal family conflicts which has caused delays in their cases.
Airblue has also been accused of using political influence through Shahid Khaqan and forcing the government to hold of the release of the Crash report to the public. I can assure you that neither Airblue nor Shahid Khaqan have anything to gain by keeping the report hidden as it does not jeopardize their operations in any way. Rather the PPP government had deliberately kept the report from the public as apart from the cockpit crew, the air traffic controller's incompetence was a major cause of the incident and that fact is clearly stated in the report. I hope that the new government sets a precedent and immediately releases the report to the public.
So they are not sure about the capability of individuals in PMLN? Nawaz n co is in business for more then 3 decades.
looking for "right men" for the wrong doings
NS is surrounded by oppotunists including his family members.
@Khalid
May I know why you feel that Shahid Khaqan Abbasi should be kept out of the incoming federal cabinet ? The Airblue crash was merely an accident; a combination of human incompetence on part of the pilots as well as failure of the air traffic control to properly guide the aircraft. The management including Shahid Khaqan had little to do with it, although the aftermath of the incident could be better handled. The Airblue crash victims families can never get back what they have lost, but Airblue has been able to work with the Insurance companies involved to ensure equitable compensation for the families of the deceased. Just to make it clear to you, financially or in any other way, Airblue nor Shahid Khaqan have anything to gain by denying the crash victims' families proper compensation, as they are fully covered by credible insurance companies up to hundreds of millions of dollars. Please do not come to assumptions based on false rumours and sling mud at people based on hearsay.
@Mirza:
Delay in cabinet showing how PML(N) is incapable...work/decisions on such important matters should be started soon after the election and Noon knows they are the leading party.....then why this..??????...if we show such sympathy/justifications then PAk will never rise...we should be open minded to say truth irrespective of party whom we like...!!!
NS is minding his every step and he knows People won't appreciate another Rehman Malik, Ghulam Bilour, Hina Khar, Pervez Ashraf etc etc
Was not Shahid Khaqan Abbassi a US citizen. I remember that afte the AirBlue crash there was talk of arresting the owner of the airline and he was could not be arrested as he was a US citizen.
If the cabinet exceeds 15 ministers............then we know that the politics of patronage is alive and kicking.
Inspired rumours have it that Shahid Khaqan Abbassi, is among those being tipped for a senior ministerial assignment. While such appointments have previously been made to repay political debts, NS3 would be well advised to steer clear of any such decisions this time around. Not being familiar with other names, the mention of Mr. Abbassi's possible inclusion in the new Cabinet does ring a warning bell because of his involvement in case(s) concerning the Air Blue crash, vis-a--vis deceased passengers' families and ofcourse the Pakistan, and International Civil Aviation authorities' investigations. As a politician Mr. Abbassi must be more than keen to get to a position of influence to overcome his business problems and ducking his financial liabilities! To NS3 i would urge that he very objectively and dispassionately analyse each and every name on his short list to ensure credibility and honesty in the environment he has promised to freshen.
Almost a month since the elections, never mind the 90 days of campaigning and still there's no cabinet from PMLN. Nawaz Sharif seems to be taking it too easy.
It is not easy to satisfy all those looking for their pound of flesh. No wonder in a perverse way PPP leadership was happy to handover the charge to NS for the next five years. There would be many party leaders who would be unhappy like the PTI leadership. However it is the learning of a democratic process and NS is experienced enough to deal with that. His main problem would be the representation of Sindh in the cabinet. With the few feudal who have been opposed to both PPP and MQM, Sindh cannot be fairly represented.