Pakistan cabinet reshuffle ISLAMABAD, April 25, (AFP) Portfolios of the new ministers sworn in to Pakistan cabinet Tuesday are: Mohammad Ali Durrani(Information vice Sheikh Rasheed who gets Railways); Saleem Saifullah (minister for inter-provincial affairs), Nilofar Bakhtiar (tourism), Amir Muqam (political affairs), Sumaira Malik (women and youth affairs) and Zahid Hamid (privitisation and investment). Kamal Ali Agha, Khalid Ahmad Khan Lund and Mushtaq Victor were sworn in as ministers of state. The federal cabinet comprising 59 ministers, including six women, was sworn in in September 2004 when Shaukat Aziz became the prime minister after the resignation of Zafarullah Jamali. (Posted @ 21:20 PST)
Re: Pakistan cabinet reshuffle
sheikh saab railways minister.Media was not that happy with sheikh saab and was even criticised because he used to give statements which were sometimes not contrary to the official version.
Durrani who used to defend the government on talk showns will be the new information minister.
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I believe this is the largest cabinet in pakistans history excluding mazaris brief one...such a shame all that public money being wasted ..I don't blame sheikh rashid for making contradictory comments he was probably guessing most of the time .
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Yeah i guess the increase in no. of ministries is something that can't be justified at this stage. Even the shuffle of portfolios is unjustified as long as the public is kept in the dark about the reasons.
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Sheikh Rashid being sent in the back ground to the railway ministry is not a very good sign.
The following headline report mentions something about the PPP-Govt talks etc being behind his transfer…any clues what exactly…?
http://www.dawn.com/2006/04/26/top1.htm
Mohd Ali Durrani will be an ‘easy target’ Info Minister. For a country like ours with the current setup of things, we need aggressive, bold, outspoken and witty info ministers. Mushahid Hussain, Sheikh Rashid types. Durrani seems to be a very calm guy. So calm that the brilliant NVM concept of which he was made a head has not even been properly conceived yet, even after 6 months of its announcement.
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Revival of the ministry of Inter Provincial Affairs is interesting.
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I agree it is a waste of public money and something we caould have done without. Well if Saleh Hayat can become Interior minster while still on the exit control list, anything is possible. This is a real shame.
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Mushahid Hussain and Sheikh Rashid are two of the biggest snakes in Pakistani politics currently. These people would just as easily support Ariel Sharon if he was president of Pakistan.
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Rashid Ahmad is one incompetent dude. During the earthquake, he was stating openly the problem was small and managable without external aid when it was the worse natural disaster to hit Pakistan in a century. He got booted because Mush did not forgive him for making those stupid statements.
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Reshuffle for another power grab, more state/cabinet ministers to make sure there are people in their "un-named party" for the 2007 selection.
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On shahid masood's show on ARY One world senior vice president of ruling PML Q Kabir Ali Wasti when asked to comment about sheikh rasheed's statement that the main reason for changing his ministry is the PPP-Government talks and negotiations.Wasti's reply was something like that
Sheikh rasheed ki koi auqat hai mohatrama kay agay us ka level kahan aur mohatrama ka kahan.BB buhat baree leader hain"
I mean a vice president is cursing his own party worker/leader in favour of an opposition party's chairperson.
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He is a fan of ex-Iraqi information minister, seems like he learnt a lot from him.
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Very likely he is bargaining for some good seat with BB/PPP :D
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What is with these govt-PPP talks...? Can anyone make out yet what's been happening? No source has talked openly of it so far.
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I Agree.
But no denying they are quickwitted and outspoken.
I remember back in 99 during NS's govt Mushahid Hussain was on Hard Talk with Tim Sebastian. Pakistan was in pretty bad shape at the time post 26 May 98 and Kargil, and with a hawk like Tim Sebastian ready to rip Pakistan apart, Mushahid Hussain put up an excellent fight. Pakistan didnt need anyhting from his piety at that time. Pakistan needed his skill. Same happened many times with Sheikh Rashid.