So it is more of the same.
Many were nursing the illusion that this time it may be
different, not necessarily better or worse, but just different.
Even Shaukat Aziz was hinting at a new look administration
- competent, clean, honest and chosen on merit.
The team he will lead and
which has been handpicked for him, is not only the same
which Jamali and Shujaat were destined to live with, it
may be more unwieldy this time.
Already 32, full ministers
have been inducted and some more may be trickling in at
a later stage. Then there is the inevitable prospect of
an army of junior ministers waiting in the wings to be
sworn-in within the next couple of days. Indications are
that every minister will have at least one, if not more,
minister of state.
The first purpose, of course,
is to accommodate pressure groups within ruling coalition
or the influential lobbies, which are pulling the strings
from backstage. The second purpose is to cut the concerned
minister to size under constant scrutiny. That is a sure-shot
recipe of chaos.
Add to this the swarm of
parliamentary secretaries, advisors and chairmen of standing
committees, and you have a house suffocating-full.
The Hashmi episode had
exposed Mr. Shaukat Aziz’s hapless status. Despite
his innate decency, resilience and civility, he was unable
to prevent something that tainted the process of his election
and tarnished his image. One of the characters in that
event that posed to represent Mr. Aziz in the unsavory
exercise of opposing the production order for Hashmi has
even been rewarded with a ministerial post.
The cabinet formation was
being dubbed as a major test of the limits and parameters
within which the new Prime Minister would be allowed to
operate. There was some intense lobbying and the list
was shuffled and reshuffled many times before the final
announcement.
Shaukat has fared no better
than Jamali. There is hardly anybody in the new cabinet
who could be considered Mr. Aziz’s choice. Everybody
is somebody else’s representative. The next battle
is for portfolios, and there is little hope of any major
change on this count either.
As a successful banker,
Mr. Aziz is known for being very meticulous in hunting
talent. This time around, he has gotten ready-made stuff,
which he may or may not like. His skill to gel a cohesive
and coherent team, owing allegiance to him, would be severely
tested.
Shaukat’s close friends
say the Prime Minister may have a free hand in the selection
of ministers of state. But names appearing in the media
tell another story. Those who insist that he will be more
of a glorified finance minister than a real prime minister,
must have been reinforced in that view.
It is thus a safe bet that
he may be able to exercise his choice in the finance ministry
without outside interference. He is reportedly intent
on keeping the portfolio to himself and name an advisor
to run the ministry, probably a repeat of VA Jaffery syndrome.
Among the likely names, State Bank Governor Dr Ishrat
Hussain seems to be the best possible candidate.
On paper it is a cabinet
of expedience. The pressure groups like MQM and Patriots
now look more entrenched than ever. They not only have
been able to maintain their previous strength in the cabinet,
but have been given one more minister each. They also
hope to have ministers of state and parliamentary secretaries
as well.
Pir Pagara, who made a
lot of noise against the PML chief and withdrew his Functional
League from the unified PML, accusing him of establishing
the rule of the Jatts, has finally extracted the price
and got Razzaq Thaheem in the cabinet.
Moreover Chaudhry Shujaat
Hussain has been able to address the long-standing grievance
of his party’s MPs that they have been ignored in
order to appease smaller groups. Most of the 12 new ministers
belong to the dominant party in the coalition. Amanullah
Khan Jadoon, Tahir Iqbal and Mushtaq Cheema are his loyalists.
Jadoon’s choice ensures representation of Hazara
division and rewards a seasoned political worker.
The backstage managers
have got their own share of the pie like Javed Ashraf
Qazi, Habibullah Warraich, Jehangir Tareen, Wasi Zafar
and Mian Shamim Haider. Wasi Zafar had defected from the
PPP after the election and dropped directly in PML’s
fold instead of his other PPP colleagues who turned into
Patriots. He is also well connected in sensitive places.
Chaudhry Shahbaz Hussain is brother of Chief Justice Lahore
High Court and former governor (late) Chaudhry Altaf Hussain.
Ghulam Sarwar Khan worked
hard for Shaukat Aziz’s election campaign in Attock
and was instrumental in fostering defections in his old
party, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). Above
all, he was the first person to demand in the National
Assembly that President Musharraf must not shed his uniform
and should back out from his solemn pledge to the nation
he made on television, because the MMA also reneged on
its promise to support him in the confidence vote and
on the National Security Council.
Among other groups, Ejazul
Haq is in his lone vote, while Hamid Nasir Chattha has
got the coveted slot of Chairman Kashmir Committee. Mian
Manzoor Wattoo has also not been accommodated.
Kabir Wasti also got a
rough treatment. Being first to merge his Qasim Muslim
League in the PML, he had gone extra miles to demonstrate
his loyalty to Shujaat and Gen. Musharraf. He contributed
in the unraveling of Jamali and discredited his fine record
of three decades of struggle for democracy by unqualified
support to a military ruler.
In the process, he was
neither accommodated in the parliament nor the party or
the government. He is living in political wilderness despite
his sharp political acumen. “It serves him right,”
says one of his old friends.
