Pakistani federal cabinet resigns

16:59, 9 February 2011

ISLAMABAD. February 9. KAZINFORM The Pakistani cabinet resigned Wednesday on the advice of Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani as the government is struggling to decrease its expenditures, official sources said; Kazinform refers to Xinhua.

Gilani headed a farewell meeting of his cabinet on Wednesday where after the routine proceeding all the ministers presented their resignations. The prime minister accepted the resignations and then forwarded them to the secretariat, officials from the PM house said.

It was being speculated in the political circles that the next coming cabinet will be much shorter than the last one.

Addressing the last session of the cabinet, Prime Minister Gilani said a new cabinet would be sworn in within the next 24 hours, local Urdu TV DAWN News reported.

The existing cabinet comprises 62 members, including ministers, state ministers and advisors. Being one of the biggest cabinets in the world, it had been under severe criticism by the opposition parties and media as it was believed that such a big cabinet was an extra burden on the country's weak economy; Kazinform cites Xinhua.

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