PM Imran decides to remove Asad Umar as finance minister

ISLAMABAD: Eight months after the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government took over the reins of the country, Prime Minister Imran Khan is mulling over reshuffling his cabinet in light of the performance of federal ministers, ARY News reported.

Sources privy to this development say the prime minister will reshuffle the portfolios of five ministers, including Finance Minister Asad Umar, Petroleum Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan and State Minister for Interior Shehryar Afridi.

Asad Umar will be removed as finance minister and entrusted the portfolio of petroleum minister, whereas Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Brigadier (retd) Ijaz Shah will replace Shehryar Afridi.

Minister for Pakistan Railways Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, Minister of Energy Umar Ayoub Khan, and Federal Minister for Communications and Postal Services Murad Saeed fared better than other ministers and won’t be reshuffled.

Last month, Prime Minister Imran Khan had decided to review the performances of all federal ministries and cabinet divisions of the governments on quarterly basis, for which a notice was also sent to all federal secretaries from the Prime Minister’s Office.

The notification cited the last meeting of November under the chairmanship of prime minister, wherein all federal secretaries had presented the short-term as well as long-term targets of their respective cabinet divisions and ministries.

In order to review the performances against the parameters discussed and set during the last meeting, a review session has now been called by the prime minister, the circular read.

The notice also detailed the format to be adhered to for the presentation.

According to the circular, the following aspects (quoted verbatim) must be strictly adhered to:

1. Presentation shall be made for maximum of 30 mins followed by 15 mins Q&A session.
2. Emphasis should remain on the efforts made to achieve the goals/targets so assigned and the issues that require resolution.
3. Inter-ministerial coordination, if required, must be made prior to presentation to avoid any duplication.
4. Long term plans should also have implementation strategy.
5. No deviations whatsoever from the approved format would be allowed in any case and the Divisions are expected to fully adhere to the time slots.
6. Ministries/Divisions shall also include information about the subordinate organisations/attached departments
7. Ministries/Divisions shall without fail provide information on the format within 2 weeks positively.