Topic:

Cabinet Reshuffling In PTI,s Government

Submitted To:
Mr. Farhan Ahmad
Submitted By:
Rimsha Zafar (1849), Annam Zulafiqar (1828)
Government College university Lahore
Introduction
The cricketer turned politician Imran Khan formed his political
party Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf on April 25,1996. His manifesto was to eliminate
the corruption and fight against status- quo. In his first election he won zero seat.
In his second election in 2002 he won only one seat from Mianwali where Imran
khan himself contested. In next election 2008 he boycotted the election due to
Benazir Bhutto death in a terrorist attack. After 2010 his party gathered
momentum. On 30th October 2011 PTI did a message show in Minaar-e Pakistan
Lahore. After this powerful show his party became the main contestant in
Pakistan’s political scenario. In 2013 PTI got 33 seats and became the 3rd largest
party in the country. They also form the collation Government in KPK. After 2013
Muslim league (N) formed central Government in Pakistan. Imran khan started
anti- corruption against them. In July 2017 supreme court of Pakistan ousted the
prime minister Nawaz Sharif. In2018 general election were held on 25th July in
which PTI got most seats. Then PTI formed the collation Government with Q-
League, MQM, BNP Mangle, and Awami Muslim League.

Cabinet
After taking the oath Imran Khan formed his cabinet. Barrister Farogh
Naseem was given the charge of law ministery while Khalid Maqbool Siddique
became the minister of information technology. These two ministries were given
to MQM. Tariq Bashir Cheema from Q-League was given the charge of housing
ministry as he said earlier his campaign he gave the charge of finance and
commerce ministry to Asad Umar. Fwad Chaudry became the minister of
information and broadcasting while Amir Kyani of health. Shehryar Afridi became
the state minister of interior.

Minister’s Performance
After formation of cabinet Imran Khan said
that there will be no permanent minister. Every one has to perform to remain in
the cabinet. Every minister was given task to fulfil. Prime minister called cabinet
meeting almost every week to check their performance and to also decrease their
wastage of time in policy making. After completion of 100 days, Prime Minister
called a cabinet meeting and checked the performance of ministers one by one.
Some minister performed very well, while some could not perform well in their
ministries. Murad Saeed minister for postal and highways performed very well
and increased revenue of his department. Oman Ayub Khan became the minister
of energy, he also performed very well. Minister for housing, also did very well in
his field. Prime minister has announced earlier in his campaign said they will 5
million home for poor and lower- class people. So this ministry has done a lot of
work in policy making. Prime minister has recently performed ground breaking
ceremony of housing project in Islamabad and Quetta. Some minister did not
perform very well.

Reshuffling
After almost 8 months, prime minister reshuffled his cabinet. His
key minister was removed or their charge has been changed. Dawn Newspaper
mentions this as “Cabinet Turmoil” in their editorial. One of the most significant
change was removal Mr. Asad Umar from his position. Finance ministery was
focus point of all the critics and media during all these days. When Asad Umar
took charge of his office, economy was in deep trouble. Pakistan was facing $12
billion current account deficit. The country was unable to fulfill their expenditure
and imports. Mr. Asad Umar worked very hard and he started long term plan for
the revival of the economy. He initiated several reforms to recover the economy.
But all these long-term plans failed to deliver in short term plan. Media houses
criticized severely Asad Umar. Inflation rate also grow up from 5.4 to 9.8. All their
matters became the reason of removal of Asad Umar. Dawn news in his editorial
on 19th April 2019 wrote that “His entire campaign seemed to have two planes
only: eliminate corruption and put Mr. asad in the finance seat….. The timing is
also worrisome, the talks with the IMF are at advance stage and the budget is at
hand”.
Another minister was also removed from cabinet and was
given no alternative position. Amir Kyani was minister of health. He did not
perform very well and failed to bring any reforms. Mr. Abbas Nasir in his column
in Dawn news on 20th April wrote that, “Amir Kiani’s replacement was published
in a statement. A source said Kiani had to go because of the spiraling medicine
prices some of which were attributable to his decisions”.
Petroleum minister Ghulam Sarwar was also shifted to aviation. Sui-Gas prices
likes were his major fault, which he was failed to handle. Abbas Nasir again wrote
in his same column that, “petroleum minister Ghulam sarwar was shifted towards
aviation because he is said to have mishandle the LNg orders”.
Mr. Fawad Choudhry was moved to science and technology from
information and broadcasting. Mr. Shahryar Afridi was moved to SAFRON from
state minister for interior. While Brig (R) Ijaz Shah was given the charge of interior
ministry. Brig (R) Ijaz Shah appointment was severely criticized by opposition
especially PPP condemned this and recorded their stance against this
appointment.
Mr. Asad Umar was replaced by Mr. Hafeez Sheikh, he was
previous PPP minister. The express tribune in his editorial on 19th April 2018,
wrote that “Umar exit is a sign of the government admission that the economy is
not in the good position”. Firdous Ashiq Awan was became the special legislature
to Prime minister on information and broadcasting.
Dr. Zafar Ullah Khan was given the ministry of health after
removing Amir Kiani. This was major blow to PTI cabinet in their first year. “The
Express tribune” mentions this on their first page on 19th April, 2019 as “Kaptaan
shakes up team”.

Conclusion
Imran Khan contested the election on the slogans of eliminating
corruption and relief to the poor. But after formation of government some of his
minister did not perform very well. Therefore his government faces major
criticism from people. Therefore a major cabinet reshuffle was done. This
reshuffle is a huge blow for newly collation government but to some extent it was
indispensable act. The Express “Tribune” in his editorial wrote that, it is loud able
that Prime minister Khan recognized where trouble existed and promptly sought
to create changes instead of denying problems or taking on passive stance. This
was a very bold move which Imran Khan took. Opposition also did point scoring
on this issue, but right thing must be done at any cost. A stich in time, saves nine.
So hope for best that new faces improve these condition.