ANJUM ibrahim Distribution of portfolios

“I can’t understand this obsession with insisting that The Khan must announce who gets what portfolio immediately? I mean what’s with that! It’s not as if the national assembly has even been summoned yet…”

“Nawaz Sharif’s cabinet took oath two days after he did and he knew who was going to get what portfolio well in advance.”

“OK, and what did that lead to! The most incompetent cabinet and need I add one of the largest cabinets whose salaries and perks and protocol we continued to pay for five whole years….”

“Hey, Nawaz Sharif left office around 10 months or so before the end of term of his party, Ishaq Dar left seven to eight months before the end of his party’s term…”

“But Nawaz Sharif continued to get protocol at our expense till 31 May 2018 the end of the tenure of his party and Dar sahib left the country at our expense, an entire plane was made available to him to slink out of the country never to return and…”

“Never say never!”

“OK, but my point is why should Imran Khan announce the national and provincial portfolios now, true there is reportedly heavy lobbying for positions but then that’s the beauty of democracy, now had Nawaz Sharif’s party won we know he would have reappointed all those who did so poorly and Zardari sahib too has a list of preferred portfolio managers if you will…”

“Don’t be facetious.”

“I am not being facetious, oh I see what you mean…no when I said preferred portfolio managers I was referring to provincial portfolios not asset portfolios…”

“Shush, you could be up for defamation. And you should know Zardari sahib’s lawyers have a much better winning track record than Nawaz Sharif’s so I would shut up.”

“OK, but while Imran Khan has time to announce the portfolios shouldn’t those who were loyalists of the Sharif-Dar-Abbasi tenure, tender their resignations voluntarily…”

“I heard the Man Who Shall Remain Nameless says he is like a dog’s bone and correct me if I am wrong but this Urdu expression means he is not going to change his colours, not at this stage of his life anyway, and then we have some ambassadors and some governors…”

“Governors go automatically.”

“Some governors are not of provinces – say the State Bank for example. Offer the resignation and it would be up to Imran Khan to accept or not.”

“Indeed and Imran Khan must desist from taking a Caretaker or anyone who was appointed by the previous government on board for former caretakers/appointees perform the role of undertakers later – I mean you have Mussadiq Malik, you have The Man Who Shall Remain Nameless…”

“Agreed, but he has begun to meet current appointees…”

“Hmmm.”