Shehzad Arbab returns to cabinet as special assistant on Establishment

Arbab was removed from his previous position as an Advisor to PM after a major cabinet reshuffle

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Shehzad Arbab. Photo: File

Shehzad Arbab, who was removed from his position of advisor to the prime minister, returned to the federal cabinet on Saturday after he was appointed special assistant to the prime minister on Establishment. 

Arbab was removed from his former post after a cabinet reshuffle by PM Imran that took place in the aftermath of a sugar, wheat crises report by the FIA was made public by the prime minister.

With Shehzad's inclusion, the cabinet's numbers have swelled to 48. The cabinet comprises of 18 unelected members, 25 federal ministers, four state ministers. The prime minister has five advisors and 14 special assistants. 

All five advisors of the premier, including 13 special assistants, are unelected. Special assistants Sania Nishtar and Arbab Shehzad have the same powers as federal ministers. 

Sugar, wheat crises report and the cabinet reshuffle

The report had stated that Jahangir Tareen, a close aide of the prime minister and a senior leader of the PTI, along with federal minister Khusro Bakhtiar's brother, benefited the most from the hike in sugar prices in January. Another major beneficiary identified in the report was Moonis Elahi, a senior leader of the government's ally, the PML-Q. 

A day after making the sugar, wheat crises report public, the prime minister's media advisor said at a press briefing that PM Imran wanted to strengthen institutions and not individuals.

"The prime minister wants to strengthen institutions, not individuals," Dr Firdous Awan, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting, had said. "It can't be tolerated that the public's rights are usurped and that a particular group takes advantage of it."

Dr Firdous had also said that the government is waiting for the forensic report on the sugar crisis which will be released by the end of April. She said that PM Imran had proven that "there were no sacred cows" in the country and that no other government in Pakistan's history had taken such a decision before.

Background of the sugar, wheat crises

In January, prices of wheat surged across the country after it emerged that the staple food's quantity had decreased significantly in markets across the country.

Read morePM Imran expressed 'great displeasure' over threats given to sugar probe commission: Awan

The News had reported that the wheat crisis originated in Sindh and then spread to other provinces. It said that corruption probes against officials in the Sindh government discouraged many in the province from the procurement of wheat that would otherwise have increased existing surplus wheat stock. At one point, the reserve stock was as low as 0.2 million tons.

The problem was exacerbated by a decision to export 200,000 to 400,000 tons of wheat, keeping in view surplus stocks on the basis of estimates presented by the Ministry of National Food Security and Research, but the actual exports of wheat crossed 640,000 tons.

Shortly after the wheat crisis ended, sugar prices went up as the product was found scarce in short supply in markets across the country. Hoarding and an artificial increase in the prices of the commodity were cited as the main reasons for the surge in the prices of the product.