Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif set to unveil Cabinet today; PPP chief Asif Ali Zardari against joining
Islamabad, Apr 18: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is expected to form a new Cabinet on Monday after a week-long delay amid deliberations on how to accommodate all coalition partners, according to a media report.
Pakistan's Parliament last week elected Sharif, President of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), as the new prime minister after the ouster of Imran Khan through a no-trust vote.
But the new Cabinet could not be formed as Sharif wanted to accommodate all his allies in the government.
"Members
of
the
federal
Cabinet
are
taking
oath
tomorrow
(Monday),"
Marriyum
Aurangzeb,
who
is
likely
to
become
information
minister,
told
Dawn
newspaper
on
Sunday.
However,
there
was
uncertainty
about
whether
Jamiat
Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl
(JUI-F)
will
become
a
part
of
the
Cabinet
or
abstain
over
a
"disagreement"
about
the
distribution
of
ministries,
the
newspaper
reported,
adding
Fazl
will
remain
the
government
ally.
Marriyum
said
the
PML-N
would
get
14
ministries
followed
by
the
Pakistan
Peoples
Party
(PPP)
with
11
ministries.
She
claimed
that
all
allied
parties
were
being
accommodated
in
the
Cabinet,
including
JUI-F
and
Muttahida
Qaumi
Movement
(MQM).
On Sunday, Prime Minister Sharif consulted the ruling coalition parties and met delegations of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) and the Balochistan National Party (BNP).
On the other hand, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, being the "guarantor" in the ruling alliance, vowed to fulfil his commitments with coalition parties on the distribution of ministries.
Marriyum
said
a
marathon
meeting
of
a
joint
committee
of
the
alliance
on
forming
the
Cabinet
took
place
on
Sunday
in
which
grievances
of
parties
over
the
distribution
of
portfolios
and
key
positions
were
resolved.
She
said
the
PML-N
would
bag
the
ministries
of
defence,
finance,
interior,
law
and
justice,
railways,
information,
energy,
planning,
communication,
etc.
Earlier, PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah said that a joint committee of all allied parties in the government had finalised the formation of the new Cabinet in which almost all parties had been accommodated.
He said that the ministry of foreign affairs will most likely be handed over to the PPP, while the party's chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari is deliberating over the decision to head the ministry, Geo News reported.
"I cannot ascertain whether Bilawal Bhutto will become part of Shahbaz Sharif's Cabinet," the news channel quoted him as saying.
Sanaullah further said that the ministry of finance, the ministry of planning and development, the ministry of energy, and the ministry of defence will be led by PML-N.
"The ministry of maritime affairs and the ministry of overseas Pakistanis and human resource development will be given to MQM and PPP, respectively," he said.
A source in the government told Dawn that JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman was not joining the federal Cabinet. It has also been learnt that JUI-F had demanded the presidential slot and expressed displeasure over giving one ministry each to the Awami National Party (ANP) and independent MNA Mohsin Dawar.
Rehman conveyed his displeasure to Zardari and questioned why two ministries were given to those parties or persons who had contested elections against JUI-F.
However, Zardari made it clear that he could not back out of his promises made with the allied parties as he was a "guarantor" in the alliance, which was formed against Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf's (PTI) government.
Zardari said his party did not want to take ministries unless all allied parties were accommodated.
Meanwhile,
a
source
in
the
PPP
said
Prime
Minister
Sharif
had
given
all-out
authority
to
Zardari
to
distribute
ministries
to
any
party
according
to
its
due
share.
He
said
distributing
ministries
and
prized
positions
among
allied
parties
of
the
new
government
was
not
an
easy
task
as
every
party
was
hoping
for
lucrative
and
key
positions.
Some of the possible ministers in the new cabinet are Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Marriyum Aurangzeb, Khawaja Asif, Miftah Ismail, Zahid Hamid, Ahsan Iqbal, Rana Sanaullah, Rana Tanvir, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Hina Rabbani Khar and Shazia Marri.