Top-heavy: Is the federal cabinet too big to work?

One criticism often directed at the government is that the cabinet has grown so large under the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) that it is no longer an efficient decision-making body.

Does the cabinet need to be slimmed down? Is it doing too much at the centre that could otherwise be devolved to the provincial and local level? Geo.tv speaks to Aasiya Riaz, joint director at PILDAT, about how top-heavy the government really is.

Vacancies?

Article 90 of the Constitution determines that the executive authority of the federation is to be exercised by the federal government, consisting of the prime minister and the federal ministers. While, Article 91 (6) stipulates that the cabinet, together with the ministers of state, "shall be collectively responsible to the senate and the national assembly."

90.

The Federal Government:

(1)

Subject to the Constitution, the executive authority of the Federation shall be exercised in the name of the President by the Federal Government, consisting of the Prime Minister and the Federal Ministers, which shall act through the Prime Minister, who shall be the chief executive of the Federation.

(2)

In the performance of his functions under the Constitution, the Prime Minister may act either directly or through the Federal Ministers."

The 'executive authority of the federation' or the federal government, extends to those matters on which the parliament has the power to legislate, or in other words, the federal list (as revised under 18th amendment to the constitution) as well as matters, including exercise of rights, authority and jurisdiction in and in relation to areas outside Pakistan.

Currently, there are 33 ministries in the center, overseeing 42 federal divisions, as of July 19, 2019. As for the cabinet in the center, it consists of 24 federal ministers and four ministers of state or junior ministers. In addition, the prime minister has appointed five advisors and 15 special assistants.

As of now, there is no federal ministry without a full-time minister.

However, the cabinet secretariat, as a federal ministry, has five divisions, namely:

a. Aviation Division

b. Cabinet Division

c. Establishment Division

d. National Security Division

e. Poverty Alleviation & Social Safety Division

It is only the National Security Division which is working without a minister in-charge at the moment. Ghulam Sarwar Khan is federal minister for the aviation division, the prime minister is the minister in-charge of the cabinet division, Mohammad Shehzad Arbab is serving as advisor to prime minister on establishment and Dr. Sania Nishtar, as the special assistant to the prime minister, is in-charge of the poverty alleviation & social safety division.

Why does the government appoint advisers and special assistants rather than ministers?

According to the Constitution, the federal cabinet can only consist of members of the national assembly and the senate.

Under the 18th amendment to the constitution, Article 92 (1) has set a limit on the size of federal cabinet. Since the election in 2013, it is now constitutionally mandated that the total strength of the cabinet, including ministers and ministers of state, shall not exceed 11 per cent of the total membership of Majlis-e-Shoora (parliament). This translates to the federal cabinet (including federal ministers and ministers of state) strength to not exceed 49 members.

At the moment, while the total number of ministries stands at 33, the total strength of federal cabinet, including federal ministers and ministers of state, is 28 (Murad Saeed, MNA, and Shehryar Afridi, MNA, have dual charge of two ministries each).

Out of these 28 Ministers, 24 are MNAs and two are Senators.

Article 93 of the Constitution also allows that prime minister can appoint advisers whose number should not exceed five. Therefore, at the moment, there are five advisers to the prime minister.

Since Pakistan functions as a parliamentary democracy, the intent of the constitution is to allow the prime minister to appoint advisers from outside parliament who can provide the necessary skill and expertise on a sphere of government, where such expertise may not be available within the parliament.

Please also note that Article 57 of the constitution grants the prime minister, a federal minister, a minister of state, the attorney general and advisers to the prime minister the “right to speak and otherwise take part in the proceedings of either house, or a joint sitting or any committee” of the parliament.

This constitutional right does not apply to special assistants to prime minister. The constitution is also silent on the number of special assistants a prime minister can appoint.

The federal cabinet

Please note that while advisers to the prime minister and special assistants to the prime minister are included in the list, these do not count towards the overall number of constitutionally-mandated size of the federal cabinet).

Advisors to Prime Minister, not in the above list by Ministries, also include:

Dr. Ishrat Hussain

Adviser to Prime Minister on Institutional Reforms and Austerity

Status of Federal Minister

Special Assistants to Prime Minister, not in the above list, by ministries:

1. Mirza Shahzad Akbar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability with the status of Minister of State

2. Mr. Naeem ul Haque, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs with the status of Minister of State

3. Mr. Ali Nawaz Awan, MNA, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Capital Development Authority Affairs

4. Mr. Muhammad Usman Dar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Youth Affairs

5. Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on activities pertaining to Ministries of Water Resources, Power and Petroleum in the Balochistan

6. Mr. Shahzad Syed Qasim, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Coordination of Marketing and Development of Mineral Resources with the status of Minister of State

7. Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Public Private Partnership