• Clarifies parliamentary secretary didn’t possess signing authority
• Says their job is to assist chief minister during question hour, manage dept business within assembly

QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti on Thursday said all 62 members of the provincial assembly served as ministers in the cabinet before the enactment of the 18th Amendment but its size had been restricted after the constitutional tweak.

Article 130(6) of the Constitution, which deals with the strength of provincial cabinets, says: “… the total strength of the Cabinet shall not exceed 15 members, or eleven per cent of the total membership of a provincial assembly, whichever is higher.”

Following restrictions imposed by two articles inserted into the Constitution by the 18th Amendment, the chief ministers of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa can have a cabinet of 15 members at most. While the size of the Sindh cabinet cannot exceed 19 members.

If the 11pc formula is applied, a 41-member cabinet can be formed in Punjab because its assembly has 371 members.

Similarly, following the 18th Amendment, Article 92 of the Constitution says about federal cabinet: “… the total strength of the Cabinet, including Ministers of State, shall not exceed eleven per cent of the total membership of Majlis-i-Shoora (parliament).

That means the strength of the federal cabinet cannot exceed 49 members because the total membership of parliament comes to 446 (342 MNAs and 104 senators).

The Balochistan chief minister further said the role of a parliamentary secretary was limited to handling a department’s business within the parliament, and they did not possess any signing authority.

He expressed these views during the provincial assembly session while responding to a question raised by Leader of the Opposition Younis Zehri of the JUI-F.

‘Clearly defined’

CM Bugti said that after the 18th Amendment, it was clearly defined how many ministers could be included in the cabinet.

“The job of a parliamentary secretary is to assist the chief minister during question hour and manage departmental business within the assembly,” he added.

“We have provided offices to parliamentary secretaries to facilitate them so they can manage their work more efficiently. We have never called them ministers, nor are they given such a status,” he added.

Mr Bugti further said it is the prerogative of the chief minister to appoint anyone as a parliamentary secretary.

“A parliamentary secretary can respond to questions in my presence, but they cannot issue policy directives for any department. The minister remains the in charge of the department,” he continued.

Published in Dawn, November 21st, 2025