ISLAMABAD : Finance minister , Miftah Ismail , has declined to defend a decision of prime minister ,Shahbaz Sharif , to have a 70-member federal cabinet .
At a time when Pakistan’s economy is in shambles , prime minister , Shahbaz Sharif, is adding burden on the national exchequer by appointing his ministers, advisors and parliamentary secretaries.
His cabinet size is over 70 now. In recent days , he had appointed 8 new advisors all from PPP and this decision was followed by appointing another gang of parliamentary secretaries .
Each advisor and parliamentary secretary costs this poor nation around Rs 5 million a month . Shahbaz Sharif is busy in doling out adviser ships and parliamentary secretaries offices to his cronies and spending millions per month on each one of them when 30 million poor people of this country are struggling to survive in flood hit areas without food , shelter and medicines.
In a media talk on Saturday, Miftah Ismail, said ‘ As a finance minister , I will not defend 70-member cabinet of Shahbaz Sharif “.
A yes man like Miftah is ashamed of Shahbaz Sharif’s decision of expanding his cabinet size to 70 plus , but “Khadam e Azam’ is not.
Miftah Ismail agreed to Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz !(PMLN) vice president , Maryam Nawaz , that the government should not add more burden on the masses by increasing petrol and utility rates and said the prime minister has already made this assertion .
Maryam Nawaz is vehemently opposing upward revision in petrol prices and power rates . She is demanding of the government to review its policy of adding financial burden on public through repeated upward revision in petrol prices and electricity rates.
Mr Miftah Ismail said he was neither using an official vehicle nor taking petrol facility for his use .
Since April when Shahbaz government took over and later reached an agreement with International Monetary Fund (IMF) last month, petrol and power rates are continuously going up. The people are making under unbearable burden of high petrol prices coupled with ever highest electricity rates and they are calling upon end to ugly practice of making IMF happy by increasing rates of power and petrol but Shahbaz government is not paying heed to public hue and cry.
Prime minister ,Shahbaz Sharif, seems like a robot . His cabinet size and decisions suggest he lacks understanding of the issues haunting the people of Pakistan. The people are struggling to keep their lives intact somehow in unbearable inflation, but continuous rise in petrol prices and utility rates is turning like a nightmare for them.
Miftah Ismail ruled out any major reduction in oil prices for the next 13 days . The oil prices announcement has already delayed for two days.
The oil prices have gone down considerably in inte national market, but Shahbaz government is not passing on its benefit to the people .
Miftah Ismail’s strategy has turned PMLN into a most disliking party . The PMLN accepts publicaly that its government decisions are making it unpopular in public but none is playing any role to put an end to the exiting anti public policies .
Shahbaz Sharif has literally made PMLN a major question mark in just four months rule , but he is preferring rule over future of PMLN.