Undecided: Govt yet to announce information minister

PTI lawmaker Sardar Idrees is believed to be the second choice of the government after Yousafzai.

PESHAWAR:

With a barrage of questions always waiting to be answered, the provincial information ministry is not a sought after portfolio.

Despite cabinet members having taken oath a week earlier, confusion still prevails over who heads the information ministry as no formal notification has yet been issued in this regard.

“The main reason the government has not yet issued a notification is because of Shaukat Yousafzai’s reluctance to take charge as information minister,” said a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MPA while requesting anonymity. “Yousafzai has time and again informed the party’s senior leadership of his unwillingness. He is more interested in the health ministry of which he has already taken charge.”

The government now seems to be in a fix over whom to choose for the task of conveying its stance on crucial issues such as militancy and sectarianism, said the lawmaker.

Earlier, media reports claimed Yousafzai had formally relinquished the information ministry. However, the reports could not be confirmed. On the other hand, official handouts released to the media attribute Yousafzai as the spokesperson of the provincial government instead of the information minister.

Even though a horde of senior PTI leaders jostled to gain lucrative portfolios in the K-P government – mainly the education, health and local government ministries which have received high budget allocations – little enthusiasm was seen for the information ministry. PTI lawmaker Sardar Idrees was believed to be the second choice of the government after Yousafzai. However, Idrees could not even secure a place in the list of advisors and special assistants to the chief minister.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 24^th, 2013.