Pakistan's cabinet of 'King's Men' facing duels on all fronts: analysts
President
Pervez Musharraf (Centre, rear) takes oath from federal ministers
of the new cabinet after the oath taking ceremony of newly elected
Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali at the Presidential palace
in Islamabad, 23 November 2002. Pakistan's new 21-member cabinet
was sworn in Saturday, two days after new prime minister Jamali
was elected by a narrow majority in a hung parliament. AFP PHOTO/B.K.Bangash
ISLAMABAD, (AFP) - Pakistan's first post-military cabinet is a coalition of richly-rewarded defectors from the parties of President Pervez Musharraf's arch-rivals who face an uphill battle to maintain his pro-US policy, defend his reshaped constitution, and woo foreign investors, analysts said.
"All the king's men have been put together in a government of defectors," political analyst Imtiaz Alam said of the 14 federal ministers and seven ministers of state sworn-in Saturday under Musharraf ally, Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali of the army-backed Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q).
"The new cabinet will be looking towards the president for guidance.
"But it will not be sustainable since it is based on horse-trading and a narrow margin of one vote," as Jamali earned only 172 votes in the 342-seat house, Alam said.
Among those heading the restored civilian administration -- promised by Musharraf since his bloodless coup three years ago -- are six floor-crossers from the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) of ex-premier Benazir Bhutto and 12 MPs from PML-Q -- once former loyalists of the prime minister Musharraf deposed, Nawaz Sharif.
Rebel PPP leaders Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat and Rao Sikandar Iqbal were rewarded with the prize posts of Interior Affairs and Defence. Iqbal also scored the mantle of senior minister.
The foreign affairs, commerce and information portfolios went to PML-Q men.
While Saturday's swearing-in of Jamali and his cabinet was presented as the conclusion of Musharraf's much-avowed transfer of power, the uniformed president has ascribed himself the ability to sack parliament and heads a military-dominated National Security Council overseeing the government.
The new cabinet also faces a formidable two-pronged opposition from Bhutto's liberal PPP and the religious right and its allies, which hold at least 156 seats.
Together they are determined to undo Musharraf's self-appointed powers.
"This government will be under fierce attack from both the liberals and the right," Alam said.
Jamali has pledged to continue Musharraf's economic and foreign policies -- wherein lies the new administration's biggest challenges.
Pakistan's intensive cooperation with the United States in hunting and crushing al-Qaeda remnants is under fire from the alliance of six Islamic parties, which made unprecedented gains in the October 10 polls, on the back of anti-US sentiment.
The delicate allegiance to Washington was
underscored by Jamali's omission of any direct mention of the
United States in his post-election speech on the floor of the
house on Thursday.
Musharraf's foreign policy has made Pakistan a "frontline
state" and "won international respect," Jamali
said, but the only country he lauded as an ally was China.
The coalition cabinet's main challenge "will be to balance a whole set of conflicting pressures from the assembly, the president, the army, the four provinces and the international community," an Islamabad-based diplomat told AFP.
"That will take exceptional political skills and a lot of luck."
Economically, the new cabinet must juggle unemployment and rising poverty among Pakistan's 145 million people -- 34 percent of whom live below the poverty line and 57 percent are illiterate-- with pressures from the army and Kashmir-oriented elements of the Islamists to keep up massive defence spending.
It will also face pressure to slash creeping utilities prices and raise development expenditure, without abandoning Musharraf's tight macro-discipline which has curbed inflation, reduced foreign debt and multiplied foreign reserves.
"A big question is are they going to give in to political pressure and inflate the budget?" asked another Islamabad-based diplomat.
"The key task is to attract investment and the key challenge is to withstand huge political pressure to loosen fiscal discipline."