You cannot keep everybody happy all the time but then nothing stops you from being pleased with others. This is precisely how Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilanis parting words to his outgoing cabinet members can be summed up. He was effusive in his praise for the efforts they had made during their stint spanning a little less than three years to ensure good governance. This was Mr Gilani before he picked up a 23-member new cabinet striking a balance between new and old faces.
Pessimists may find everything wrong with what they continue to describe as a bloated and inefficient cabinet. Mr Gilani wont. And he wouldnt have been selective in his appreciation had Allama Hamid Saeed Kazmi still been a part of the cabinet to which he bade farewell in Islamabad the other day. After all Mr Kazmi did a wonderful job of facilitating the pilgrims in the best possible manner for the first two years after assuming the portfolio of Religious Affairs. So he deserved to be praised for the good work he did before he started robbing the Hajis.
Looking whichever way you want, you will find it to be a well-performing and efficient cabinet. First the collective achievements: They rubberstamped every decision taken by their leadership which included a go ahead for the National Finance Commission Award, grant of political rights to the people of Gilgit and Baltistan, approval of the Balochistan package and on top of everything endorsement of the drafts of the 18th and 19th amendments finalised by the broad-based Constitution Reforms Committee representing political parties across the divide. You are bound to lose count of the major decisions made by the cabinet. The PM remembers that 77 percent of the 782 decisions were implemented.
That the Gilani government has been serious about the governance issues from day one is reflected in the efforts the ministers had individually made after being allotted their portfolios. And when it comes to good work some of them were more equal. nterior Minister Rehman Malik made 256 visits out of Islamabad one every fourth day on average in the last three yearsto monitor the rescue work or meet the victims of bomb blasts and suicide strikes. Lahore, Karachi, Quetta, Peshawar, Mardan, you name a place and he was there. The rest of the time he would spend warning the people to be wary of the militants sneaking into their towns and cities.
Not just that. He had also burdened himself with an additional task of revamping the Federal Investigation Agency by purging it of corruption. But if the FIA and the Police Department are now much more corrupt than they had been at any time in the past or extremism and militancy are rearing their ugly head again you cannot blame Mr Malik. Maybe he felt overstretched and would have happily accepted some other portfolio. Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat could have given him some good tips on how to relax and enjoy as an Environment Minister had the PM not once again reposed confidence in him and entrusted him with the same thankless job.
Babar Awan, another most performing minister who was always on the move. The time he spared from appearing in the Supreme Court defending the presidential immunity in the NRO-related cases, he would spend meeting lawyers and doling out grants to the District Bar Associations across the country. This was to placate the otherwise hostile legal fraternity. It was because of his brilliant time management that he still had a fewer free moments to throw a tantrum at the custodians of Takht-i-Lahore.
The list of efficient and well-performing ministers will remain incomplete without the mention of Raja Pervez Ashraf. Full marks to him for not letting the people lose hope to have uninterrupted power supply in their lifetime. The first day of every year will begin with his media appearance giving good news to the nation that December 31 this year (2008, 2009…2010) loadshedding will end. How? That he didnt know nor did he ever feel the need to consult experts on this issue. The Raja was not lucky to have been re-inducted into the new cabinet but what might have hurt him the most was that the people of his own constituency celebrated his exit.
No matter what the critics say about one inefficient cabinet being replaced by another inefficient one, Mr Gilani who is aware of the competence of his ministers must be content about the fact that he has got the best team around that can deliver on promises the party had made with the masses before the last general election. He said everything he could have to soothe and calm the comrades who have been shown the door that he doesnt doubt their integrity and competence. But now, it is time to work.
The writer is Executive Editor, Pakistan Today.
