Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso on Wednesday allocated portfolios to the caretaker members of the federal cabinet.
According to the notification, Arif Nizami would serve as minister for information and postal service, Malik Habib as minister for interior and narcotics control, Ahmer Bilal Soofi as minister for law, justice, parliamentary affairs and human rights, Dr Musaddiq Malik as minister for water and power, Shahzada Ahsan Ashraf Sheikh as minister for industries and production, Maqbool HH Rahmatoola as minister for textile and commerce, Abdul Malik Kasi as minister for railways, Asadullah Mandokhel as minister for ports and shipping and communication, Mir Hassan Domki as minister for food security and inter-provincial coordination, Dr Sania Nishter as minister for science and technology, IT, professional training and education, Feroze Jamal Shah Kakakhel as minister for overseas Pakistanis foundation, Dr Younis Soomro as minister for housing and works while Shahzada Jamal had been given the portfolio of minister for religious, national harmony, regulation and heritage.
However, conspicuously, no portfolio was allocated to Sohail Wajahat and neither was any official word available about the controversy.
THE CONTROVERSY:
Moreover, no official announcement was made about the important subjects of foreign, finance and defence ministries.
A source told Pakistan Today that the prime minister would be keeping the office of the Foreign Ministry with him while it had been decided that defence minister would not be appointed.
The source, however, added that there was no official signal as to who would be the next finance minister yet.
“Hectic lobbying is going on to seek pardon for Wajahat and Dr Musaddiq Khan, who had embarrassed their benefactors. Both lied to the Presidency about their official responsibilities with the PSO and the SBP respectively. They also embarrassed their lobbyists including former petroleum minister Dr Asim Hussain. This is the reason that Wajahat, who had been sworn in as a minister, was not allocated a portfolio while the last minute intervention by the SBP governor had averted the swearing in of Dr Mushtaq Khan,” added the source.
Wajahat was serving as the chairman of the Pakistan State Oil (PSO), a state-run organisation while Dr Mushtaq was serving as the chief economist of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) when the announcement was made. However, both none of the two tendered their resignations before the oath.
“Dr Mushtaq may be sworn in a day or two if he resigns from the SBP. But he would also have to clarify his position,” the source said, adding that Wajahat had embarrassed his lobbyist, Dr Asim Hussain.
It was mentioned in the audit report of 2011-12 that perks and privileges given to Wajahat as PSO chairman were ‘illegal’ and the Audit Department had also recommended that the amount spent on his perks and privileges be recovered. The facilities approved by the PSO board for its chairman cost over Rs 2.4 million per month, the report added.
INFORMATION MINISTER TAKES CHARGE:
Meanwhile, Minister for Information and Broadcasting and Postal Services Arif Nizami took charge on Wednesday. Upon his arrival at the Ministry of Information, Nizami was given a briefing.
Information Secretary Agha Nadeem briefed the minister about the working of the ministry. The meeting was attended by media chiefs and senior officials of the ministry.
Later, chairing a meeting, Nizami said the holding of free and fair elections was the top priority of the interim government. He said the government would fully facilitate national and international media during the elections so that they could perform their duties in accordance with their professional ethos.
Nizami said the official media should adopt a balanced approach and maintain a level of neutrality in reporting events. “We are staunch advocates of media freedom and can never allow any sort of curbs on the media,” he said, adding, “Pakistan is a functional democracy where the media and the judiciary are fully independent and the civil society is vibrant.”
He said there was no hurdle in a smooth democratic transition in the country.