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Summary
The government is likely to cut the huge federal cabinet to a mere 17-member body on Friday (today), Dunya News reported.However, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) refused to be part of the new cabinet. The decision to the effect has been taken in a meeting of the partys core committee held under the head of President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani at the presidency on Tuesday night. The secretary cabinet also attended the said meeting. A 17 to 18-member cabinet would be formed within 24 hours of its dissolution, sources further divulged. They said Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza will prorogue the current National Assembly session on Friday and the cabinet would be dissolved in the evening.The new cabinet would likely to comprise Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Naveed Qamar, Syed Khursheed Shah, Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh and Abdul Qadir Patel from Sindh; Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Babar Awan, Rehman Malik, Ahmed Mukhtar, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Hina Rabbani Khar and Raja Parviaz Ashraf are some names under consideration from Punjab. Balochistans Ayat Ullah Durrani and Asma Arbab Alamgir from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are likely to handed over some of the ministries. Five ministries have already been handed over to the provinces and another five health, education, environment, women development and culture will be given to them this month.Eight more ministries will either be devolved to the provinces in the third phase or merged with other divisions. The PML-N had given a deadline to the government to implement its reforms agenda before Feb 23, calling for reduction in the cabinet size, to revive ailing economy and cut government expenses.Prime Minister Gilani had recently said that changes and cuts in the federal cabinet would take place as per the 18th Amendment.
