Looks like another increase in the number of ministries will follow, since these leeches want more ministries so that they can mismanage larger sums of money.
MQM, JUI-F differ with PPP on ministries
** MQM wants six ministries including Housing, Communication, Ports and Shipping
- JUI-F seeks Religious Affairs and Petroleum portfolios, amendments in Women’s Protection Act
By Irfan Ghauri*
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan People’s Party-led government has expanded the federal cabinet to 55 members, but its differences with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) on the number of ministries and portfolios to be assigned to them still persist.
Portfolios of Petroleum, Information Technology and Ports and Shipping have therefore not been assigned so far.
MQM: Sources with knowledge of the negotiations told Daily Times that the MQM had said it would join the federal cabinet only if it was given ministries in line with the formula agreed between the PPP and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
According to that formula, arrived at when the two major parties were coalition partners, a party will get one federal ministry for every five members in parliament.
With 31 parliamentarians – 25 National Assembly members and six senators – the MQM wanted six federal ministries. It also believes it will win more seats in the Senate in the elections in March.
The government initially offered only two ministries – health and petroleum – that the MQM refused, the sources said. The government then offered five ministries including two ministries of state, but the MQM wanted ministries of its own choice, including Ports and Shipping, Housing, and Communication.
JUI-F: The JUI-F demanded the ministries of Religious Affairs and Petroleum, also insisting on the formula that the PPP and PML-N agreed on, the sources said. The PPP has rejected the demand and believes the JUI-F will lose some of its seats in the Senate in the March elections.
Gul Naseeb Khan, the parliamentary leader of the JUI-F in the Senate, told Daily Times that the government had asked their party to name their members for the federal cabinet, but the party insisted on knowing which ministries it would get.
The JUI-F asked President Asif Zardari during a meeting late on Monday that its own priorities should also be made part of the national policy, the senator said.
He said the JUI-F had asked the president to stop the military operation in the Tribal Areas, establish the writ of the government there, amend the Women’s Protection Bill, reconstruct Jamia Hafsa and release Lal Masjid cleric Abdul Aziz.