Islamabad: Pakistan PM Imran Khan reshuffled his cabinet last week, following the December 7 verdict of the Islamabad HC barring un-elected advisers and special assistants from heading the cabinet committee. This is the fourth cabinet shakeup since Khan’s PTI came to power in 2018.
The IHC judgment noted that Article 93 of the constitution allows the PM to appoint up to five advisors and conferring of a federal minister status on an advisor is “only for the purpose of perks and privileges” and “does not make the advisor a federal minister as such”. Khan elevated Sheikh Rashid Ahmed as interior minister and appointed Abdul Hafeez Sheikh as finance minister. State-run Radio Pakistan reported that Ahmed was already a part of the cabinet working as minister for railways, while Hafeez Sheikh was serving as advisor on finance and revenue.
Hafeez Sheikh is not an elected member and he could not lead several committees. He was appointed as minister under Article 91 (9) of the constitution and can serve as a minister for six months. He must be elected as a member of the National Assembly or Senate to continue after that. It is believed that Hafeez Sheikh would be made a senator in March when the election for the upper house is scheduled to be held.
Brigadier (Retd) Ijaz Ahmad Shah who was serving the interior minister was appointed as minister for narcotics control, while Azam Khan Swati was appointed as minister for railways. The most notable elevation in the new cabinet is that of Ahmed, who despite failing to improve the functioning of the railways, was given the charge of the interior ministry, a key portfolio.
