New ministries controversy

ON Wednesday, just before he left for Australia to attend a Commonwealth meeting, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani created four new ministries. There are indications that the heated debate this act has ignited will still be raging when the prime minister returns home after a few days. It will not die down easily, even though the federal government appears to have the law on its side.

The PPP-led government, heavily dependent on allies and forever having to appease its own members, had a fair idea it could not give a pledge to keep the cabinet small.

Consequently, as it piloted the 18th Amendment through parliament, it got inserted in the constitution a meaningful proviso that the clause which limits the size ofthe cabinet to 11 per cent of the total strength of parliament will only take effect after the formation of the next National Assembly. Besides, there are rules of business which allow a prime minister to `whenever necessary, constitute a new ministry consisting of one or more divisions`.

This gives the prime minister the legal authority to expand the size of his cabinet even when his action contravenes the principle behind the devolution of 17 ministries to the provinces and a downsizing drive at the centre under the 18th Amendment.The four ministries announced on Wednesday are in addition to an equal number created in the recent past. The decision has been justified in the name of good governance.

Since a purge in the cabinet in February was carried out on similar grounds, it is difficult to say which model of good governance is Mr Gilani as the head of some 50 ministers or advisers.

The question is one of necessity. What does the `whenever necessary` term in the rules or business stand for? Does it mean public need or some kind of consensus? Or does the arbitrary creation of a handful of ministries amount to pandering to the wishes and demands of those occupying the treasury benches? Much can be said to explain the situation of a government that has to tolerate blackmail by friends for continuing in power. But those truly deserving of sympathy are the people. The ideal of devolution has been lessened in value by the practical needs of politics, and the public will have to pay for the extravagance of a government that works in its name. The people will have to fund ministries that have been devolved to the provinces as well as those created at the federal level to accommodate a few souls who find themselves out of a job of their choice.