PPP to expand Cabinet gradually

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Peoples Party’s high command has resolved to expand, gradually rather than at once, the Federal Cabinet by inducting more Ministers and Advisors with focus on cementing the remaining ruling coalition after departure of major partner the PML-N.
According to well-placed sources, President Asif Ali Zardari who also heads the ruling party, has been holding frequent meetings with not only Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gailani but also with the coalition partners since he returned from the US for, inter alia, the Cabinet expansion.
The sources were of the view that the President had delayed his China visit chiefly because of the two burning issues including the war on terror getting into critical stage, and the much needed Cabinet expansion for both manning the affairs and strengthening the coalition.
Other than the PPP chosen Advisors like the one already done for Finance, most of the party parliamentarians aspiring to be inducted in the Federal Cabinet would get the Minister of State slots. At the same time, the sources added, the Federal Ministers’ slots left vacant by the PML-N would be filled up by the parliamentarians nominated by the coalition partners.
The sources revealed to The Nation that the Awami National Party was getting more favourite as compared to the rest of the coalition partners including the MQM and the JUI-F for its extended role in the war on terror mostly surrounding the NWFP. The sources were of the view that the JUI-F of Fazlur Rehman was interested in the Governorship of Balochistan more than the slots in the Federal Cabinet.