It has been over three months since the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) struck a power-sharing deal, but the two parties have yet to move an inch towards legislating to create the post of deputy prime minister for Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, despite the fact that the PML-Q top command had announced that he would work as senior minister in Gilani’s cabinet until legal obstacles to the post of deputy prime minister were removed.
PML-Q leader Raja Basharat had also said Elahi would work as senior minister until the government passed a legislation to create the post of deputy prime minister. He had also said both parties reached an agreement to pass legislation for the creation of new provinces. However, nothing has been done even after more than three months of the deal. Not only has the PPP government failed to legislate to pave the way for Elahi to become the deputy prime minister, it has also not allotted portfolios to two special assistants to the prime minister — Ahmed Yar Hiraj and Qasim Ali Shah.
A source in the government said the PPP top command, from day one, was not sincere in giving the position of deputy prime minister to Elahi as the prime minister was of the view that it would ultimately develop a parallel government that would frequently challenge his authority. “In the final round of power-sharing parleys on the night of May 2, when the Chaudhrys insisted that deputy prime minister’s slot was a must for clinching the deal, the PPP leaders played a smart move by telling the PML-Q leadership that they had authentic information that opposition leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan was all set to challenge the position in the Supreme Court, therefore, the PPP leaders suggested, it would be judicious to wait until the required legislation was passed,” the source said.
A source in the PML-Q told Pakistan Today that the PPP government had promised the PML-Q that Hiraj would be made special assistant to the prime minister on finance and economic affairs. The Chaudhrys have also failed to secure a lucrative slot for their angry federal minister Ameer Muqam who resigned from his ministry as he was not ready to serve on the portfolio of the Ministry of Production. However, his resignation has not been accepted so far.
Meanwhile, two PML-Q ministers of state, Sheikh Waqas Akram and Sardar Shahjahan Yousaf, who had lost their portfolios after the devolution of ministries of labour and manpower and health respectively, have not being given new portfolios though the government has accommodated former federal ministers –Wajahat Hussain and Riaz Hussain Pirzada – on newly-created ministries of Human Resource Development and Professional and Technical Training.
