This week, Shehbaz Sharif, the prime minister, added eight more special aides to his staff marking the increase in his cabinet members to 70.
The cabinet currently has 34 federal ministers, including one without a portfolio, seven ministers of state, four advisers to the PM, and 25 special assistants to the prime minister (SAPM), thanks to the eight additional SAPMs.
In the announcement, it was stated that the Premier was “pleased” to appoint Iftikhar Ahmed Khan Babar, Maahr Irshad Ahmad Khan, Raza Rabani Khar, Mahesh Kumar Malani, Faisal Karim Kundi, Sardar Saleem Haider, Tasneem Ahmed Qureshi, and Mohammad Ali Shah Bacha to the position of SAPM.
Imran Khan, the leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), had a 52-member federal cabinet, which included 25 federal ministers, four ministers of state, four advisers, and 19 SAPMs.
Fawad Chaudhry, senior vice president of PTI, slammed PM Shehbaz for enlarging his cabinet by eight more people.
“Inflation is causing people to drown, and the imported government is building up its army of cabinet members. The Shehbaz Sharif government’s priorities are evident in the unnecessary addition of eight more unimportant members to the cabinet, according to Fawad in an interview with The Nation.
According to Chaudhry, the middle class was crying over their monthly bills while the “imported government” was playing the flute like Nero, breaking the back of the nation’s economy.
