FRIDAY saw the fourth cabinet shakeup in less than two and a half years of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government. In the latest reshuffle, Prime Minister Imran Khan has changed portfolios of three ministers and appointed Abdul Hafeez Shaikh as the Minister of Finance.
The decision regarding Hafeez Shaikh had become imminent following a division bench of Islamabad High Court ruled that the Prime Minister’s Advisors and Special Assistants have no executive authority vested in them to chair or become members of the cabinet. Ever since this judgment, there were rumours that Hafeez Shaikh will be removed and someone else will be appointed as the Finance Minister. In our view, the Prime Minister has taken the right decision of sticking with Hafeez Shaikh as now is the time to show consistency in policies and take the country forward on growth trajectory after passing through the difficult times. Government has almost completed half of its tenure and making changes in the economic team at this juncture would not have sent a good message to the businessmen, investors as well as the international financial institutions. Some other good brains such as Adviser on Commerce Razaq Dawood should also be made the Federal Minister; as the Senate elections are due in March next year, they can be elected as Senators so that they could continue their job with more zeal and zest. At the same time, there is also a need to cut short the size of the cabinet by removing those Advisers and Special Assistants who have failed to deliver rather brought bad name to the PTI government. Coming to the surprising element of the cabinet reshuffle is entrusting the responsibility of Interior Ministry to Shaikh Rashid Ahmad which has raised speculations that he has been brought to handle the PDM and its long march towards the federal capital. There is no doubt that Shaikh Rashid is a seasoned politician and over the decades has served in many ministries. How he fits in the new role is yet to be seen but indeed his focus should be maintaining law and order situation in the country with the coordination of provinces. We have to foil the conspiracies of our arch enemy India which is bent upon stoking instability in the country through different tactics including sectarian strife.
