KARACHI, July 6: The indecision of Chief Minister Dr Ghulam Arbab Rahim regarding allocation of three provincial departments is reportedly delaying the announcement of portfolios to 12 recently-inducted ministers.

The departments are home affairs, irrigation and education, which were previously allocated to Aftab Ahmad Shaikh of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Pir Syed Sadruddin Shah Rashdi of the Pakistan Muslim League (Functional), and Irfanullah Khan Marwat of the defunct National Alliance.

Chief Minister Dr Ghulam Arbab Rahim himself had said on Saturday that distribution of portfolios to the ministers would be announced by Monday. But, the announcement was likely to be made public on Thursday.

According to official sources, the portfolios will now be announced after consultation with Prime Minister Shujaat Hussain, who arrived in the city on Tuesday night. The sources said that out of the three departments, the chief minister wanted to keep home affairs and irrigation departments with him so that law and order problem and plight of cultivators at the tail-end of the water courses could be dealt with effectively.

In the past, most of the chief ministers used to keep the home affairs portfolio with themselves. In the Mahar government, the home department was entrusted to Aftab Shaikh of Muttahida Qaumi Movement. He was however accused of impartiality in his actions.

The inordinate delay in the announcement indicated that coalition partners were not happy over the distribution of portfolios, though Arbab Rahim has denied any rift among coalition partners.

The chief minister is reportedly withholding the announcement to convince his coalition partners, particularly the nominees of MQM and those of political influential families like Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, Farooq Ahmad Leghari, Pir Pagara, to agree on adjustment of the department in the larger interest of the province.

The reliable sources said that if the portfolios were not announced even on Thursday, the intervention of Prime Minister Shujaat Hussain could not be ruled out. They said that some of the former ministers, who failed to get the seat inSindh cabinet, had met the prime minister in Islamabad.

In their meeting with prime minister, the former ministers including Altaf Hussain Unnar and Osman Malkani had drawn his attention of ignoring the MPAs of defunct PML-Q group as out of 14 ministers so far inducted not a single belonged to the group.

Insiders said that the chief minister was also expected to take Pir Pagara into confidence on the issue, as he would be visiting the Kingri House along with Prime Minister Shujaat Hussain and Prime Minister-in-waiting Shaukat Aziz on Wednesday after returning from Tharparker where the nomination papers of Shaukat Aziz would be filed. Their call on Pir Pagara would be aimed at mustering support of his followers in Tharparker for Shaukat Aziz.