Despite having taken oath three days back, caretaker Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso has not yet short-listed names for his cabinet due to the debate on whether to pick politicians or technocrats for ensuring smooth free, fair and transparent elections, Pakistan Today has learnt reliably.
Having met President Asif Ali Zardari twice and meetings with Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Kayani and ISI DG Lt General Zaheerul Islam Abbasi, the caretaker PM has yet not announced his cabinet and the major challenge is the selection of a dynamic and competent economic team to help deal with the challenges.
“Being a former judge, the PM is very cautious in his selection. He is taking his time to select his cabinet and he is consulting all stakeholders so as to avoid any controversy. But he is likely to unveil his team ‘shortly’,” a source close to the prime minister said.
The source said the Presidency had proposed some names for the cabinet slots based on politicians, while the establishment wanted a technocratic setup.
“Due to the discreet nature, it’s very difficult to read him since he is very cautious, speaks very little and doesn’t allow anyone to read his mind,” the source said, adding that one thing was clear – he is a neutral person and would not favour any individual or party.
“The prime minister strictly follows laws. He keeps a distance and he is a very fine human being. A person of integrity I tell you,” the source said.
Another source said the newly appointed prime minister was facing difficulty in picking his team as he was facing pressures from various sides.
“Since the PM wants to take all stakeholders onboard, he is taking his time,” the source said, adding that proposals were being floated.
“Dr Maleeha Lodhi and Tariq Fatimi are main contenders for the slot of foreign minister while Javed Jabbar is being tipped as the information minister. But the real challenge is to select a strong, vibrant and dynamic economic team,” the source added.
Press Secretary to Prime Minister Shafqat Jalil said the consultation process was on and the federal cabinet would be formed as soon as the process was completed.
“I don’t know the exact timeframe but I know that the prime minister is involved in consultation process and the cabinet would be announced shortly,” he added.
Defence and political analyst Hassan Askari Rizvi said the major reason for the unnecessary delay in formation of the federal cabinet was the debate in the Prime Minister’s House on whether to pick politicians for the job at hand or to go for a technocratic setup.
He added that a judge always lived an isolated life and a retired judge was almost non-social.
“Due to his non-social behaviour, a retired judge cannot make decisions immediately, as he does not have clue about people at the helm or in politics,” he added.
However, Askari warned that unnecessary delays would be counterproductive, as there had been delays in naming the prime minister and chief minister Punjab due to failure of political leadership.
“Delaying installing the federal cabinet as well may further affect the functioning and decision-making process. I think the poor decision-making power of major political parties has led to confusion in picking the cabinet,” he concluded.
Both Dr. Lodhi and Mr. FaTimi have political leanings, therefore, they do not qualify for any slot in the care-taker set-up. Justice Khoso should select neutral persons as members of his team, keeping respectable distance from Presidency and Establishment.
There is no dearth of talented non-political persons in Pakistan to help Election Commission of Pakistan in holding general elections in the country. However, my view is that free and fair election can not be held in Pakistan in the presence of highly politicised bureaucracy.
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