LAHORE: Former interim Punjab Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi will be sworn in as the Home Minister on Monday (today) when the new members of the federal cabinet take oath, a PPP source confirmed.
A senior PML-N leader, who is on track to become a federal minister, also said the oath-taking ceremony is expected on Monday.
A close aide of Naqvi also confirmed that the swearing-in ceremony was held on Monday around 3:00 pm when the ex-caretaker CM would be sworn in as the interior minister.
The PPP leader said that Naqvi has been sworn in as the interior minister, but it does not mean that his party effectively becomes part of the cabinet.
He went on to say that the PPP’s position was very clear about joining the cabinet.
The PPP leader claimed that Naqvi was a “Rawalpindi man” who would become the interior minister with the blessings of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif.
Naqvi extended all kinds of favors to the PML-N, but not to the provincial branch of the PPP – so much so that he complained to the party leadership about the former interim CM’s “discriminatory” attitude towards them.
The PPP leader claimed that according to his information, Naqvi was not appointed as Special Assistant or Advisor to the Prime Minister.
He went on to say that the former interim Punjab CM would take up his task under Section 91(9) of the Constitution, which allows a minister to function without being a member of Parliament.
He claimed that the PPP, whose co-chairman was elected the country’s president a day earlier, did not even have the numbers to become a senator herself.
He said PML-N would support Naqvi during the Senate elections as without its support the former Punjab caretaker minister could not become a senator.
Terming Naqvi’s induction into the interior ministry as an unfortunate development on Saturday, a senior PML-N leader said the former Punjab chief minister was not his party’s man.
He said his party would welcome a PPP leader in the cabinet. He went on to say that with Naqvi, the PPP formally becomes part of the cabinet.
When asked about his views expressed a day earlier, the PML-N leader said that it would indeed be unfortunate for this government to have Naqvi as its interior minister. However, he continued, but more importantly, it was up to Naqvi to think that when he became the interior minister, how much credibility would be left from the electoral process he oversaw as interim CM.
Asked why the PML-N was making Naqvi the interior minister if it felt it was not in the interest of democracy, he said it was a coalition government and his party had to respect the choice of coalition partners. He claimed that Naqvi was the choice of the PPP.
When asked if Naqvi is selected for the slot from ‘powerful circles’, he laughed and said he will stick to his choice as far as the PPP is concerned.
Asked if the PPP lacked the numbers to elect Naqvi as a senator, the PML-N leader said they were in a coalition deal.
“If PPP asks us for support to make him [Naqvi] a senator, we [PML-N] will have to consider.”
To another question, the PML-N leader said that Ishaq Dar was satisfied with being the foreign minister in terms of his knowledge.
He refuted rumors about Dar becoming Deputy Prime Minister.
He went on to say that the total size of the cabinet would be limited to 18 members.
Naqvi’s close aide denied that the former CM official was seeking anyone’s support for the Senate elections. He claimed that Naqvi would become a senator with the support of independent legislators. When reminded that these lawmakers are no longer independent after the general election, he said full details could not be shared at this stage.
