TABISH Gauhar
TABISH Gauhar

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan raised the number of his cabinet members to 50 on Friday by appointing former chairman of Karachi Electric (KE) Tabish Gauhar as his special assistant on power.

A notification issued by the Prime Minister Office said: “The prime minister has been pleased to appoint Mr Tabish Gauhar as Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Power with immediate effect.”

Mr Gauhar is the founder and chairman of Oasis Energy, a management consultancy firm in the power and energy sector. He has a first-class honours degree from King’s College, London, and also an MBA degree from the Institute of Business Administration in Pakistan.

Media reported that he had stepped down as director, chief executive officer and chairman of the KE board in 2015 after working at the organisation for over seven years.

It has been reported that under Mr Gauhar’s command, the company made significant progress in key operational and financial indicators and generated a profit for the first time in 17 years in 2012.

With latest addition, cabinet members’ number rises to 50

When Mr Khan was in the opposition, he criticised the then government for having a heavy cabinet and vowed to keep a small one if he came to power to honour the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) manifesto of austerity. However, with the addition of Mr Gauhar, the cabinet of Prime Minister Khan has 50 members now.

However, his cabinet is still smaller than the cabinets of the previous Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government. The cabinets of former prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who became the premier after the removal of Mr Sharif in 2017, had 58 members.

Interestingly, under the 18th Amendment, the maximum size of the cabinet should be 11 per cent of the total number of seats in the National Assembly (342 members) and the Senate (104), which is 49.

PM Khan’s cabinet has 27 federal ministers, three ministers of state, 15 special assistants and five advisers.

Former tourism minister and PTI joint secretary Nilofer Bakhtiar has been assigned the additional office of the adviser to the party’s chief organiser. She will serve as the focal person for Insaf Women Wing.

A notification issued by the PTI chief organiser stated that her appointment had been made in consultation with PM Khan.

She has also been authorised to review appointment of any party office-bearer at any level with the approval of the chief organiser.

Published in Dawn, October 3rd, 2020

Opinion

Editorial

Disregarding CCI
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Disregarding CCI

The failure to regularly convene CCI meetings means that the process of democratic decision-making is falling apart.
Defeating TB
04 Nov, 2024

Defeating TB

CONSIDERING the fact that Pakistan has the fifth highest burden of tuberculosis in the world as per the World Health...
Ceasefire charade
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Ceasefire charade

The US talks of peace, while simultaneously arming and funding their Israeli allies, are doomed to fail, and are little more than a charade.
Concerning measures
Updated 03 Nov, 2024

Concerning measures

The govt must seek political input and consensus on the changes it is seeking to make and be open about its intentions.
Short-lived relief?
03 Nov, 2024

Short-lived relief?

POLICYMAKERS must be jumping with joy. At the close of the first quarter of FY25, the budget posted a consolidated...
Brisk spread
03 Nov, 2024

Brisk spread

THE surge in polio cases has reached distressing levels with a tally of 45 last reported, after two cases emerged in...