Not offered foreign ministry, Qureshi sulks, skips swearing in

Islamabad, Feb 11 (PTI) Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who was
known for his less-than friendly attitude towards India, is no
longer the foreign minister of Pakistan as Prime Minister
Yousuf Raza Gilani reconstituted his cabinet on Friday.
A voluble leader, 54-year-old Qureshi, who headed the
foreign ministry in the PPP government since March 2008, on
Friday refused to take oath as a cabinet minister after it
became known that he was not going to get the foreign affairs
portfolio.
Offered Water and Power portfolio, the former foreign
minister was apparently reluctant to join the government, PPP
spokesperson Fauzia Wahab told PTI.
A lawyer by profession, Qureshi was considered a
hardliner because of his apparent proximity to the Army. At a
press conference with External Affairs Minister S M Krishna in
July last year, he equated Indian Home Secretary G K Pillai's
comments to those of JuD chief Hafiz Saeed. He also said that
Krishna often got calls from India during the bilateral talks
and left the room for consultations.
For now, the foreign ministry will be looked after by
Hina Rabbani Khar, who was minister of state for finance in
the dissolved cabinet, sources said.
The 34-year-old has been participating in discussions
with the World Bank and the IMF for financial reforms in
Pakistan and is familiar with western leaders.
A total of 21 federal ministers and a minister of
state were administered the oath of office by President Asif
Ali Zardari at a ceremony in the presidency.
The new cabinet also retained several key ministers.
The state-run PTV had reported earlier in the day that
Qureshi would be among 23 ministers who would take oath but he
was not among those who administered the oath of office by the
President.
TV news channels quoted their sources as saying that
Qureshi refused to take oath after the PPP's leadership told
him that he would not be given the foreign affairs portfolio.
One report said Qureshi had expressed his inability to
accept a ministerial post due to "domestic problems".
Gilani's old cabinet had resigned earlier this week as
part of an exercise to refurbish the Pakistan People's
Party-led government's flagging image.
The new cabinet is smaller but retained many old
members.
Former ministers re-inducted into the cabinet include
Rehman Malik (former interior minister), Abdul Hafeez Sheikh
(former finance minister), Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar (former
defence minister), Amin Fahim (former commerce minister) and
Naveed Qamar (former petroleum minister).
The new ministers inducted in the cabinet are Mian
Raza Rabbani, Engineer Shaukatullah, Changeez Jamali, Sardar
Muhammad Gargej and Haji Khuda Bakhsh Rajar.
Prominent among those dropped from the cabinet were
former information minister Qamar Zaman Kaira and former power
minister Raja Parvez Ashraf, who had been facing criticism for
their performance.
The portfolios of the new members will be announced
later, officials said.
Prime Minister Gilani, who was present at the
oath-taking ceremony, had dissolved his cabinet with nearly 60
ministers and ministers of state after the main opposition
PML-N and Western donors, including the International Monetary
Fund, demanded reforms and cuts in government spending.
The government is also required to downsize the
cabinet in line with a landmark constitutional reforms package
passed by parliament last year.
Under the 18th constitutional amendment, the size of
the cabinet should not be more than 11 per cent of the total
strength of parliament.
Gilani was also not happy with the performance of some
ministers and wanted to remove them, official sources said.
Analysts said the retention of most of the former
ministers will invite criticism from opposition parties, which
have accused some PPP ministers of being involved in
corruption.