Its the same old wine in a new bottle. Eighteen of the 23 cabinet members, sworn in on Friday, were those who were part of the oversized federal cabinet which Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani had dissolved a few days ago, and most of them managed to retain their previous portfolios. Some heavyweights were dropped and there was a minor reshuffle.
The PM described the move as a step towards the implementation of a provision of the 18th Amendment requiring the size of the federal cabinet not to exceed 11 percent of the total strength of the two houses of Parliament. But since it was to become applicable after the next general election due in 2013, the decision might have been taken under increasing pressure from the PML(N) which has been forcing the PPP leadership to implement its reforms agenda by cutting expenses and improving efficiency of the official apparatus. That the PM has kept eight portfolios under his control indicates that there is going to be a further expansion in the cabinet with the government trying to take the JUI(F) and the MQM on board. As for some major omissions, Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Qamar Zaman Kaira refused to take oath after being denied their previous portfolios. But the reason for showing the door to Raja Pervez Ashraf and Senator Waqar Ahmad Khan is obviously different and understandable. The duo was not only inefficient but there were also complaints of lack of transparency in their ministries.
The decision to rightsize the federal cabinet is welcome but it may not serve any purpose unless the government replicates this policy at the bureaucratic level. Now that some ministries have already been devolved to the provinces and others are in the process of being devolved there is a need to merge various divisions which were bifurcated in the past by successive regimes, both civil and military, to accommodate their cronies. It is time that undue administrative expenses were cut and the funds diverted to public sector development.