Aspirants lobby to get cabinet slots

ISLAMABAD - Aspirants were lobbying hard to clinch ministerial slots and existing Cabinet members were
exploiting their influences to save their skin while the PPP leadership was busy reviewing the Ministers
performance to reshuffle the government in not more than a couple of days.
According to sources in the ruling party, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has already sent a performance
report on Ministers to President Asif Ali Zardari who is also the de facto head of the PPP. A final decision in
this regard was expected in not more than two days, the sources said.
The sources further said that it would not just be a reshuffling of the existing portfolios but the PPP leadership
was determined to replace some of the Ministers with new faces. Although the final decision lies with the
competent authority which is the President in this regard, the air in the capital was full of speculations, the
sources said.
According to the sources, the government has also been contemplating to form a new Ministry of Energy
merging the portfolios of Water and Power, and the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources. Alternative
Energy Development Board that so far works under the Water and Power Ministry is also likely to be upgraded
as a Division of the Energy Ministry. The sources said that the PPP government had been actively considering
the creation of Energy Ministry in order to meet the challenges of prevalent energy crisis in the country. The
sources further said that the proposed Energy Ministry would consist of two Divisions namely Conventional
Energy and Alternative Energy.
That is why perhaps, the name of Raja Pervez Ashraf, Minister for Water and Power was on top of those being
speculated to be changed in the already announced Cabinet reshuffle, the sources added. And second change
in speculations was the portfolio of Dr Asim Hussain, the Prime Ministers Advisor on Petroleum and Natural
Resources, they added. It was obvious that if the government creates Ministry of Energy by merging the existing
portfolios of Water and Power and Petroleum and Natural Resources, these two and at least one of the two
would be affected consequently.