PESHAWAR: By not expanding his cabinet during his more than two-month tenure, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi has emerged as the country’s most powerful chief minister, holding 16 key portfolios out of a total of 36.
One major reason that Chief Minister Sohail Afridi often repeats for not expanding the size of the cabinet is that until he is given a chance to meet the founding chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan in Adiala jail, he will not be able to expand the cabinet.
In simple words, Sohail Afridi has been trying to explain to PTI MPAs that he will seek Imran Khan’s permission regarding the people supposed to be inducted into the cabinet, linking the expansion directly to the jailed party leader’s approval.
Some of the party members, however, don’t agree with Sohail Afridi, saying Imran Khan had not publicly announced when Sohail Afridi replaced former chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur, a development that continues to generate internal disagreement. He had conveyed to the party through his sister Aleema Khan when she was given access to him in the prison, a communication that senior party figures say was clear and unambiguous.
“Aleema Khan in her statement explained that Imran Khan had empowered Sohail Afridi to form his government and cabinet, but he ignored senior party MPAs and added handpicked people to the 13-member cabinet. He wants to avoid repercussions of ignoring some influential figures in the assembly and keeps the cabinet expansion on hold,” a senior PTI leader and former member of the cabinet told The News.
Pleading anonymity, he said Imran Khan had never mentioned the people currently holding important positions in the cabinet, but whenever the party leaders ask him why he does not expand the cabinet, his answer is always he will not do it until and unless he meets the party founding chairman.
“There are 92 PTI MPAs in the assembly. Besides the chief minister and speaker, almost everyone among these 90 PTI members are desperately seeking a berth in the cabinet and since Sohail Afridi is junior to many of them, he can’t handle their pressure and that’s why he is delaying the cabinet expansion,” the PTI leader argued.
Presently, the cabinet has 13 members, 10 of whom are ministers, two advisers and one special assistant, reflecting what party insiders describe as a limited power-sharing arrangement. Out of 36 government portfolios, the chief minister is holding 16 of them, an unprecedented concentration of authority in the provincial government. He needs to expand the cabinet by accommodating five ministers, three advisers and two special assistants, according to official calculations.
Meena Khan Afridi, who was initially appointed minister of local government and parliamentary affairs, was later assigned an additional charge of Higher Education Department, further adding to the concentration of responsibilities. He had held HED during the previous term with Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, making him one of the more experienced cabinet members.
Meena Khan Afridi is stated to be Sohail Afridi’s teacher in politics as Meena Khan was the provincial president and then central president of PTI Youth Wing when Sohail Afridi worked with him as general secretary, a relationship that continues to shape internal party dynamics.
Both were loyal to former federal minister Murad Saeed, still considered an influential figure in the party. Also, it is widely believed that Murad Saeed had in fact nominated Sohail Afridi for the CM position, a claim frequently echoed within PTI circles.
According to government officials, Sohail Afridi is holding 16 portfolios including Livestock & fisheries, Auqaf, Haj and Religious Affairs, Agriculture, Revenue & Estate, Food, Social Welfare and Women Empowerment, Science and Technology & Information Technology, Anti-Corruption, Industries, Commerce & Technical Education, Population Welfare, C&W, Climate Change, Forestry, Environment, Prisons, Technical education, Transport and Energy & Power.
According to the officials, most of the departments under the chief minister are suffering from severe administrative difficulties as summaries are being sent to the chief minister and pending for days and weeks, affecting governance and decision-making. “The chief minister is always busy and has so many commitments and it is difficult for a secretary to meet him easily. There is always a better working relationship between the minister and secretary of their relevant department, so it is better to distribute these departments among ministers and ensure good governance,” a senior government official told The News.
This correspondent made multiple attempts to seek comments from Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and Adviser to CM on Information and Public Relations, Shafi Jan Afridi, but both of them were unavailable.
