Sindh Governor Dr Eshratul Ebad, on Saturday, administered the much-awaited solemn oath to an 18-member caretaker provincial cabinet that comprised of half a dozen businesspersons.
The new cabinet, which the critics believed was unnecessarily large, included 16 ministers and two advisors.
The provincial ministers sworn in included Shaqeeb Qureshi, Noorul Huda Shah, Anis Haroon, Iqbal Dawood Pakwala, Khalid Tawwab, Sardar Yasin Malik, Ghulam Qasim Jaskani, Sardar Khan Ghoto, Nawab Kulb Hussain Lahori, Khalid Latif, Abdul Qadeer Chohan, Muhammad Sharif Ansari, Mahmood Mandviwala, Dr Junaid Ali Shah, Shubbar Zaidi and Dr NK Lohani. Meanwhile, Haroon Farooqui and Mian Zahid Hussain would be officiating as advisors to the caretaker Sindh Chief Minister Justice (r) Qurban Alvi, who witnessed the swearing-in ceremony held here at the Governor House.
Chief Secretary Raja Muhammad Abbas was also present on the occasion.
In the formation of his cabinet, the caretaker CM took more time than expected as Saturday’s oath-taking came around after over a week as after CM Alvi had replaced his predecessor Qaim Ali Shah in the Chief Minister House.
The delay, reportedly, had been caused by the political stakeholders who were negotiating to develop consensus on the appointment of members of the caretaker cabinet.
Apparently, all of the ministers and advisors were non-political figures while some were technocrats and others belonged to the business community. Out of the 18 inducted in the interim cabinet on Saturday, Shaqeeb Qureshi, Iqbal Dawood Pakwala, Khalid Tawwab, Sardar Yasin Malik, Shubbar Zaidi and the two advisors Haroon and Mian Zahid were well known business figures.
The caretaker chief minister’s decision, reported to have been dictated by the province’s major political stakeholders like the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), to incorporate businessmen in the caretaker setup would draw the much-needed support of the traders and industrialists who welcomed the move as soon as the oath-taking ceremony concluded.
In a statement, Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI) Patron In-Chief SM Muneer welcomed the inclusion of business representatives in the caretaker setup saying the inductees were well-reputed and had a vast administrative experience to deal with issues related to trade and commerce.
Muneer hoped that the new cabinet members would show their full dedication to ensure the well being of the province and to bring in peace and tranquility. Most of all the cabinet should hold free and fair elections in the province, he added.
He urged the caretaker government to set the elimination of menaces like terrorism, extortion, kidnapping for ransom and poor law and order in country’s financial capital as its top priority.
The KATI chief, while felicitating the newly-inducted cabinet members, assured them of the trade and industry’s full cooperation in their endeavours during their interim tenure.
As speculators have been calling the shots about the portfolios to be assigned to the ministers, no formal announcement had come to the fore with regard to assignment of the portfolios till the filing of this report.
As Sindh had got its interim cabinet, it was yet to be seen what the size of Punjab cabinet would be under the caretaker Punjab Chief Minister Najam Sethi.
The judges-led caretakers in Sindh would come under heavy criticism if the senior journalist showed frugality in formulating his cabinet.
Najam had already declared his intentions of bringing in a “smart” cabinet to run the day-to-day affairs of the country’s most-populated province.
The previous PPP-led elected government of Sindh had intermittently been slammed for maintaining a large 60-member cabinet, including the governor and chief minister.
According to Sindh government’s website, during the previous elected regime, the provincial kitty had been breathing hard to cater to an expanded cabinet that included 31 ministers, four advisors with portfolios, three coordinators and 22 special assistants.
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