Not so good for government
All major parties in Pakistan are bedeviled by factionalism to various extents. Rival factions chanted slogans against one another as Zardari addressed PPP workers convention in Lahore in December last year disregarding his censure. Grouping has been reported among the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa MPAs of the PTI as well as in its central leadership. The stories appearing now and then in the media regarding factionalism in the PML-N at the district and provincial level therefore failed to draw any attention. That some of the important federal ministers have now gone public about their differences would, however, be damaging for the party.
Federal Minister of Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal was lambasted at a seminar by Khawaja Asif, Minister for Defence and Water and Power, and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources. Ahsan Iqbal paid them in the same coin through a public statement. The differences were centered on the issue of scrutiny of development projects by the Planning Commission. Abbasi and Khawaja Asif strongly criticised NEPRA and OGRA and the Planning Commission. Khawaja Asif went to the extent of accusing Ahsan Iqbal of working against national interests by delaying the approval of critical energy sector projects. He called for disbanding the Planning Commission. Ahsan Iqbal on his part blamed ‘some ministries and divisions’ of negligence, poor project management and estimates, as well as lack of capacity which he said caused delays in execution of development projects and cost overruns. He claimed he had saved millions of rupees through scrutiny by the highly professional team at the disposal of the Planning Commission.
It is unusual for ministers to make disparaging remarks against each other’s performance in public. Issues of the sort are normally settled in the cabinet meetings. Under the peculiar system introduced by Nawaz Sharif, formal cabinet meetings are infrequent. Important matters are decided outside the forum by the Prime Minster in consultation with handful of chosen ministers. There is thus no institutional arrangement to resolve differences between the ministries. It is time cabinet system is allowed to function properly.
