A PM usually expands his Cabinet a year into his term for any number of reasons. One is the need to prevent a backbench rebellion, by providing an outlet for ambition. Something of this can be seen by the fact that a few of the full ministers are promotions from the ranks of the ministers of state. The new ministers of state thus have the implied promise that if they perform well, they could be elevated. Former Cabinet members are few and far between, Sardar Yaqub Nasir having served in previous Nawaz cabinets, and Tariq Fazl Chaudhry having been a minister of state. Another reason is that the PM may feel the team he has is not large enough. Mr Shehbaz Sharif started off with a team of 19, but has now got a team of 46. The ever-expanding Cabinets are often because the PM is not good at dropping people, which means he doesn’t like sacking people. There may be a firm reason, as where a minister from an ally in a coalition is not performing, and it is symptomatic that this expansion has not been accompanied by anyone being dropped.
Coalition pressures are not visible in this expansion, and the absence of any PPP men means that Mr Sharif has given up on the hope of converting its present support from outside into participation in the government. That is significant, for it means that PPP parliamentarians can only hope for office if the PPP takes office, That increases the pressure for a midterm change, but only marginally. Midterm changes have happened before, occurring in each Parliament elected since 2008. Mr Sharif has accommodated Pervez Khattak, the head of the PTI Parliamentarians, as well as his former Principal Secretary, Tauqir Shah, as PM’s Advisers, which gives them federal minister’s status. He has also elevated Muhammad Ali to the status of adviser, after having him as a special assistant, with the rank of minister of state.
The ultimate purpose of any Cabinet expansion is to strengthen the ministry. It does not seem as if the government has much else it wants to do by way of reform or change. The government is now settling down to staying the course, and ensuring that its policies are implemented in a way that will ensure re-election. There has been none of the reshuffling of portfolios that would serve to reinvigorate the ministers. This may reflect the laidback style of the Prime Minister, or that he already exercises so much personal control over the departments that there is no point in changing anything around. Knowing Mr Sharif, the latter is probably true.
