Wednesday, March 2

Cabinet of Pakistan

The Cabinet of Pakistan is headed by Prime Minister and plays an important role in the Government of Pakistan, in accordance with the Westminster System.
A council of Ministers chaired by the Prime Minister, the Cabinet is the senior echelon of the Ministry; the terms Cabinet and Ministry are sometimes used interchangeably, a subtle inaccuracy which can spark confusion. Although the membership of the Ministry and the Cabinet are often coterminal, currently there are five members of the Ministry that are not members of the Cabinet. Technically, the Cabinet is the executive committee of the Pakistan government

Ambassadors at Large

The Prime Minister of Pakistan has also appointed the following Ambassador's at Large, which is a top diplomatic assignment and often status of Federal Minister:
Khalil Ahmed - Ambassador at Large and Special Envoy to China
Nasir Khan - Ambassador at Large
Javed Malik - Ambassador at Large

History of current cabinet

Fall 2008 cabinet changes
On November 3, 2008 a reshuffle of the cabinet took place, in which several new portfolios were created. The announcement was made by the Cabinet Division on the same day. After the inductions, there were 37 federal ministers, 3 Ambassadors at Large, and 18 ministers of state. Amongst the federal ministers there are 29 from the PPP, two from the ANP, two from FATA, and one each from JUI-F, PML-F, BNP-A, and one independent candidate. For ministers of state, 14 belong to the PPP, two to the ANP, one each to PML-F and FATA. Additionally, there are at least three advisers working under the Prime Minister who also lead their respective ministries; Rehman Malik leads the interior ministry, Shaukat Tareen the finance ministry and Dr Asim Hussain the petroleum and natural resources ministry. However, at least 7 ministerial heads are not filled and are reserved for future coalition partners.

Spring 2009 cabinet additions
On January 26, 2009, four new federal ministers took charge. These included two from MQM, and two from JUI-F. It was the first time that MQM became part of the coalition government in the center, whereas before it was part of Sindh government only. For the MQM minister, Labour, Manpower, and Overseas Pakistanis ministry was bifurcated into Labour and Manpower, and Overseas Pakistanis ministries, with the MQM minister taking charge of the latter. As a result, the total tally for federal ministers rose to 41, with 18 ministers of state. Amongst the federal ministers there are 29 from the PPP; three from JUI-F; two each from ANP, MQM, and FATA; one each from PML-F and BNP-A; and one independent candidate. The tally for ministers of state and advisors to the PM stayed the same, hence raising the grand total to 62.
In February 2009, Khawaja Mohammad Khan Hoti quit as narcotics minister over differences with ANP leadership.
In March 2009, Rehman Malik was given the ministry as he stood eligible after being elected senator in the National Assembly of Pakistan. Additionally, Syed Masood Kausar was installed as Law and Justice adviser after Farooq Naek became the chairman of the senate. Also Raza Rabbani and Sherry Rehman quit the cabinet, with Qamar Zaman Kaira replacing the latter.


Constitution of Cabinet in violation of Constitution
On August 30, 2009 it was revealed that the number of Senators in the Pakistani Cabinet was in excess of the maximum number which the country's Constitution allows. The Constitution states clearly that not more than one-fourth of the total federal ministers can be taken from the Senate. 39 of the Cabinet's 59 members are federal ministers, and 10 of the 39 are members of the Senate.

2010 tax scandal
A disclosure published by Geo TV in September 2010 revealed that 24 government ministers did not pay income tax at all. Four ministers paid below Rs 10,000, 15 ministers had paid between Rs 10,000 and Rs 100,000. Only two ministers out of 61 had paid more than one million rupees. The article highlighted Prime Minister Gillani who had not paid any taxes for the three consecutive years for which figures had been made available to the journalist. The results were based on 2008 figures obtained from the Election Commission of Pakistan.

2011 resignation
On 9 February 2011, Pakistan's ministers on Wednesday submitted their resignations to the prime minister, who intends to appoint a smaller cabinet in order to reduce government spending at a time of economic crisis.


Cabinet members
Incumbent Party Office
Federal Ministers
Yousaf Raza Gillani PPP Prime Minister
Arbab Alamgir Khan PPP Communication
Ahmad Mukhtar PPP Defence
Babar Awan PPP Law
Firdous Ashiq Awan PPP Information
Abdul Hafeez Shaikh PPP Finance
Ghulam Ahmad Bilour ANP Railways
Khurshid Shah PPP Religious Affairs
Ameen Faheem PPP Commerce & Trade
Makhdoom Shahabud Din PPP Textile
Manzoor Wattoo PPP Kashmir Affairs
Rehman Malik PPP Interior
Mir Changez Jamali ANP Science & Technology
Raza Rabbani PPP Inter-Provincial Co-Ordination
Samina Khalid Ghurki PPP Environment
Shahbaz Bhatti PPP Minority Affairs
Ministers of State
Chaudhry Imtiaz Safdar Waraich PPP Communications
Arbab Mohammad Zahir Khan ANP Defence
Sardar Salim Haider Khan PPP Defence Production
Ghulam Farid Kathia PPP Education
Hina Rabbani Khar PPP Foreign Affairs
Rafique Ahmed Jamali PPP Food and Agriculture
Nawabzada Malik Amad Khan PPP Foreign Affairs
Mohammad Afzal Sandhu PPP Health
Mohammad Tariq Anis PPP Housing and Works
Ayatollah Durrani PPP Industries and Production
Syed Samsam Ali Shah Bokhari PPP Information and Broadcasting
Tasneem Ahmed Qureshi PPP Interior
Abdul Raziq FATA Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas
Masood Abbas ANP Local Government and Rural Development
Mahreen Anwar Raja PPP Parliamentary Affairs
Nabil Gabol PPP Ports and Shipping
Mohammad Jadam Mangrio PML-F Railways
Shagufta Jumani PPP Religious Affairs


(source:wikipedia)
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