He also served as provincial minister of culture.

He said this was done so that provincial ministers would not use their own cars and then claim back from the government.

He was a provincial minister.

He has support from the 49,000-strong army which he built up, and has been famously intolerant of glossed-up reports from provincial ministers as the economy stuttered.

While some ministerial meetings (such as health) are co-chaired by federal and provincial ministers, others (such as agriculture) are chaired and dominated by the federal minister.