ISLAMABAD – A smaller cabinet is likely to take oath today (Friday) with three-to-four new faces while talks to woo the leadership of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) to join the cabinet continued on Thursday.
President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday accepted the ministers’ resignations. President’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar said so far the president had not formally signed the ministers’ resignation “but most likely the legal formality will be completed by late in the night”.
“The resignations of the advisers to the prime minister and of all those having the status of a federal minister have also been received and going to be accepted by the president as soon as he returns from PM’s House,” he added. He said the oath-taking ceremony of around 14-15 ministers would be held at the presidency on Friday (today).
Meanwhile, addressing the farewell party hosted by Gilani in honour of the outgoing ministers, President Zardari said “no one should be disheartened if he is dropped”.A source in the ruling PPP told Pakistan Today that the ANP and the PML-F would be given one ministerial slot each. However, the source said if the MQM and JUI-F decided to join the cabinet they would be given two ministries each and Prime Minister Gilani has been tasked to hold talks with them.
“If needed, the oath-taking could be postponed to facilitate any of the two parties on their desire,” the source said. The source said the cabinet would comprise 15 to 20 ministers. “The cabinet has to be sworn in before the prime minister’s visit to Kuwait starting from February 14,” the source said. Raja Parvez Ashraf and Arbab Alamgir Khan are likely to get ministerial slots though it was expected that they might be dropped because of the allegations against them.
The source said Khurshid Shah and Ahmed Mukhtar would also be inducted as federal ministers. However, adding that the portfolios of most of the ministers would be shuffled. “Only the portfolio of minister for law and justice, minister for finance, minister for interior, and most probably, the minister for foreign affairs will remain unchanged,” the source said.
He said Asma Arbab Alamgir would most likely be dropped from the cabinet list while one minister would also be picked from FATA. The source said Imtiaz Safdar Warraich would also be able to clinch a federal ministry slot due to his crucial responsibility of being the PPP Punjab president.
“Moreover, Hina Rabbani Khar will be given the portfolio of minister of state for finance while another fresh face may be Senator Faisal Raza Abidi who may be appointed minister of state for information and broadcasting,” the source added. The source said Fauzia Wahab may also be taken as a minister and she could be appointed as minister for women development. However, when contacted, she expressed ignorance about such a development.
The source said most of the state ministers would be inducted in the second phase of the federal cabinet. Earlier, after the inaugural ceremony of a population census, Prime Minister Gilani hinted of a possible return of ministers from the MQM and the JUI-F, denying that the leadership of any party had refused him over the issue.
