No looking back: Those eased out of cabinet not re-inducted

ISLAMABAD: There is apparently no looking back for Prime Minister Imran Khan, at least for now, on several members of his team who have been eased out of the cabinet for one reason or the other.

All these figures had been quite vocal and aggressive when they had held official positions and had been appreciated by the prime minister for their performance.

Among them, Faisal Vawda, who has the propensity to fling no-holds barred remarks without any regard for their consequences or the embarrassment they may cause him, was effortlessly edged out of the cabinet when he was moved to the Senate from the National Assembly.

His unceremonious exit from the cabinet happened quietly so that it went unnoticed. Vawda had cast his vote for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) candidate from the federal capital as a member of the National Assembly and resigned soon after. Then, he quickly contested the Senate election from the Sindh Assembly and was elected without any hassle. In between this, he was ousted from the cabinet without any announcement. The PTI faced embarrassment by securing the fifth position in the by-election for the National Assembly seat from Karachi he vacated. It showed that he paid no attention to the constituency and he and his party had been left with no say whatsoever there because of his lack of attention to the area. He stands little chance of re-induction into the cabinet.

Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan’s removal as the special assistant to Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar on information is another example of an unproblematic exit from the provincial cabinet. As she quit after being asked by Buzdar to do so, failing which she would be sacked, she initially gave the impression that she would be given a cabinet assignment at the federal level. She even tried to make people believe through her public remarks that she would be given a dual role - in the Punjab and federal governments. This has not happened so far. Over the last three years, she has a reputation for savouring ousters and returning to the cabinet.

When Fawad Chaudhry was switched for the second time to the federal information ministry, replacing Shibli Faraz, Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan had openly disapproved of the development, reflecting the old acrimony the two harbour against each other. Keeping this in view, it is unlikely that she will get a federal information job in the presence of Fawad Chaudhry as minister — if a decision is at all taken to adjust her once again.

As things have unfolded, it appears that Punjab Speaker Chaudhry Pervez Elahi also had a role in sidelining Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan. He has publicly spoken of her little or no political worth in her hometown Sialkot. It is believed that he vented his disapproval of her role in getting Ahsan Saleem Baryar, son of a billionaire senior Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) leader, sponsored as the PTI candidate in a recent by-election from Sialkot. It seems as if the PML-Q wanted to award Baryar its ticket but was deprived of the opportunity. The speaker has admitted that he made sure that she did not enter the Punjab Assembly building on the day Baryar took oath because she had spoken against the elected body.

Zulfi Bukhari’s departure from the cabinet as the special assistant to the prime minister is another instance, reinforcing the view that those driven out are not immediately taken back. He resigned in May saying that he wants to get his name cleared from the inquiry report, prepared by Rawalpindi Commissioner Gulzar Shah, into the Rawalpindi Ring Road or R3 scam. He had been indirectly implicated in the unseemly affair. Later, the Anti-Corruption Establishment or ACE of Punjab investigated the scandal, and its findings were hailed by Bukhari for having apparently exonerated him from any charge— a claim that the ACE denied. However, some knowledgeable circles do not discount his comeback, citing the way the developments relating to his return to the cabinet are taking place.

Aamer Mahmood Kayani, who had to go as the federal health minister because of the mega scandal surrounding the unprecedented hike in drug prices, has no chance of being taken back in the cabinet. The government chose not to carry out any probe into the scam despite the public and opposition outcry. Shortly after his exit, he was again given the office of the secretary general of PTI, which means that he will focus on managing party affairs instead of being re-inducted in the cabinet. Additionally, it was established that he remains a senior member of the ruling party’s hierarchy.m Dr Zafar Mirza, Awn Chaudhry, Tania Aidrus, Nadeem Babar, Samiullah Chaudhry, Hassan Chohan, Mehar Aslam Bharwana and Zawar Hussain Warraich, who had been removed from the federal or Punjab cabinet for various reasons, have slim chances to regain these positions during the next two years of the present government.

Unlike them, Senate Azam Swati and Fayyazul Hassan Chohan, who were made to leave the cabinets, were lucky to stage comebacks after a few weeks of their exit. Swati had to relinquish his ministry failing which he was going to be disqualified by the Supreme Court for pressuring the capital police when a dispute between him and a poor family emerged near his Islamabad farmhouse. Fayyazul Hassan Chohan was relieved of the office in the wake of his controversial remarks about the Hindu community, but he was taken in the cabinet again after some time.