A Cabinet reshuffle is on the cards while its size would automatically be reduced with devolution of 20 ministries to provinces under the 18th Amendment, it is learnt.
The reshuffling will actually entail the following changes: Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Defence Minister; Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, Commerce Minister; Qamar Zaman Kaira Interior Minister; Rehman Malik National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister; Justice Fakhar-un-Nisa Khokhar, Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs; Dr Babar Awan, Religious Minister; Syed Khursheed Shah, Minister for Water and Power and Raja Pervez Ashraf, Minister for Sports.
The sources said that Wednesday's meeting was the last meeting of 'an oversized' cabinet while a reshuffled cabinet would meet under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani in its next meeting. During this process, many ministers of PPP are expected to be discharged.
The sources said President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani have discussed the reshuffle issue and a cut in the present size of the cabinet in detail. According to the 18th Amendment of the Constitution, the government has to transfer around 20 ministries, divisions and around about 100 autonomous bodies till June 30, 2011.
An Implementation Commission has been constituted to ensure a smooth transfer. According to the 18th Amendment, 40 of the 47 subjects in the concurrent list will be handed over to provinces before June 30, 2011 deadline. Subjects related to legal, medical and some education matters in the concurrent list have been shifted to Federal List Part II, which would fall under the purview of the Council of Common Interests (CCI).