The federal cabinet of Pakistan’s coalition government is undergoing dramatic changes in its early days. While portfolios have not been handed over to some of the ministers who took oath two days ago, some portfolios have been changed on the next day.
According to the notifications issued by the Cabinet Division on Thursday, the portfolio of Foreign Affairs has been withdrawn from the Special Assistant for Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi who was posted yesterday. He will now only hold the position of Special Assistant.
According to another notification, PPP chief Ehsan Mazari was given the portfolio of the Ministry of Human Rights. His portfolio has also been changed. Ehsan Mazari will now be the Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination.
The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had yesterday expressed reservations over the appointment of Tariq Fatemi to the post of Special Assistant for Foreign Affairs.
A senior PPP official told Urdu News correspondent Zubair Ali Khan that the appointment of Tariq Fatemi was “incomprehensible” after Bilawal Bhutto had vowed to become foreign minister. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif did not take the allies into confidence on this issue.
He said that the appointment of Tariq Fatemi in the presence of Bilawal Bhutto and Minister of State Hina Rabbani Khar was inappropriate.
He further added that the PPP leadership had informed the Prime Minister of its concerns over the appointment of Tariq Fatemi.
The senior PPP leader said that a delegation of senior PPP leadership would meet Nawaz Sharif in London in this regard.
On the other hand, Urdu News has learned from PML-N sources that the appointment of Tariq Fatemi was approved by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from London.
It may be recalled that the formation of the cabinet of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif was difficult from day one and the initial cabinet was formed more or less eight days later. In this cabinet, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari of PPP was supposed to take oath as foreign minister but a day before he had apologized for taking oath.
On the other hand, there are differences within the PML-N regarding the handing over of portfolios. That is why Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Khurram Dastgir, Murtaza Javed Abbasi and Riaz Hussain Pirzada have not been given portfolios yet.