The coalition administration has done a “fantastic” job of decreasing the economy and people’s savings, but one thing it has done to an unprecedented extent is to increase the cabinet. Every other day, the cabinet division shamefully issues announcements announcing the appointment of special assistants to the prime minister (SAPM), advisers, and other officials. The government is too small to absorb the new inductions, and there are no offices available to allocate them. This is happening at a time when the country is experiencing unprecedented inflation, unemployment, and financial uncertainty; these elite-friendly inductions just convey messages to a frustrated population that is struggling to make ends meet. The prime minister inducted seven SAPMs on Wednesday, bringing the cabinet’s size to an unmanageable 85. Similarly, the caretaker administration has appointed unneeded ministers, contradicting its so-called austerity philosophy. While the newly appointed cabinet members will purportedly labour gratis, with the government claiming that they would not receive any salary, these officials will put a burden on the government one way or another. They use state-funded offices, people, and protocols at airports and other locations. They are merely a burden on the state, economy, and politics, among other things. The federal government should spend time devising plans to create jobs for the millions of people – talented, unskilled, professional, literate, semi-literate, and illiterate – who have been laid off under this administration’s watch.
Oversized cabinets have become the norm in political regimes, especially when the incumbent party needs the assistance of smaller parties. A ministry is a type of political party bribe. The PDM’s jumbo cabinet may be attempting to emulate former Balochistan chief minister Aslam Raisani, who had a 51-member cabinet formed from the 65 provincial assembly members of Pakistan’s poorest province in 2011.
The wisest course of action would be for the SAMP and unelected officials in charge of ministries to resign and return home, claiming grace; if this does not happen, the prime minister should step in and fire them. This will improve the government’s already low rating. This action will save wasteful spending while also assisting the government in assuaging public concern. The government will only be in power for five months, and these appointments make little sense in the last months of power. Or it appears that those in power believe they are in power for the last time, and hence milking the state should not be avoided.
