ISLAMABAD: After much anticipation and delays, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s 34-member cabinet has been sworn in in the first phase at an oath-taking ceremony at Aiwan-e-Sadr on Tuesday.
Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani has administered the oath to federal ministers and ministers of state, after President Dr Arif Alvi was said to have green lighted the nominations. The oath-taking ceremony began with the recitation of the Holy Quran. Thirty-one federal ministers and three ministers of state took the oath.
According to a statement issued by the President House, PML-N’s Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Ahsan Iqbal, Rana Sanaullah, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Rana Tanveer Hussain, Khurram Dastgir Khan, Marriyum Aurangzeb, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Miftah Ismail, Javed Latif, Riaz Hussain Pirzada, Murtaza Javed Abbasi and Azam Nazeer Tarar took the oath as federal ministers.
From the PPP, Syed Khursheed Shah, Syed Naveed Qamar, Sherry Rehman, Abdul Qadir Patel, Shazia Marri, Syed Murtaza Mahmud, Sajid Hussain Turi, Ehsan Ur Rehman Mazari and Abid Hussain took the oath as federal ministers.
Asad Mahmood, Abdul Wasay and Abdul Shakoor of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Pakistan Senator Muhammad Talha Mahmood, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s Aminul Haque and Faisal Sabzwari, Balochistan Awami Party’s Muhammad Israr Tareen, Jamhoori Watan Party’s Nawabzada Shazain Bugti and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid’s Tariq Bashir Cheema are also among the newly appointed federal ministers.
Meanwhile, PML-N’s Aisha Ghaus Pasha and Abdul Rehman Khan Kanju, as well as PPP’s Hina Rabbani Khar, were administered the oath as ministers of state.
Moreover, PPP’s Qamar Zaman Kaira, PML-N’s Amir Muqam and Awn Chaudhry from Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s estranged Jahangir Tareen group have been appointed as advisers to the prime minister.
The list of ministers categorized as per their political parties is as under:
Federal Ministers
PML-N
Khawaja Muhammad Asif
Ahsan Iqbal Chaudhary
Rana Sana Ullah Khan
Sardar Ayaz Sadiq
Rana Tanveer Hussain
Khurrum Dastagir Khan
Marriyum Aurangzeb
Khawaja Saad Rafique
Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada
Murtaza Javed Abbasi.
Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar
Miftah Ismail
PPP
Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah
Syed Naveed Qamar
Senator Sherry Rehman
Abdul Qadir Patel
Shazia Marri
Syed Murtaza Mahmud
Sajid Hussain Turi
Ehsaan-ur-Rehman Mazari
Abid Hussain Bhayo
JUI-F
Asad Mahmood
Abdul Wasay
Mufti Abdul Shakoor
Senator Talha Mahmood
MQM-P
Amin-ul-Haque
Senator Faisal Subzwari
BAP
Muhammad Israr Tareen
JWP
Nawabzada Shazain Bugti
PML-Q
Chaudhary Tariq Bashir Cheema
Ministers of State
Dr Aisha Ghaus Pasha (PML-N)
Hina Rabbani Khar (PPP)
Abdul Rehman Khan Kanju (PML-N)
Advisers
Qamar Zaman Kaira (PPP)
Engineer Amir Muqam (PML-N)
Aon Chaudhry
Delay in oath taking
The ceremony was scheduled to be held on Monday, but it transpired that President Arif Alvi had refused to administer the oath to the lawmakers. The portfolios were finalised amid rumours of disagreements between the main parites of the government coalition – Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F).
A day earlier, it was reported that that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) will take the ministries of information, finance, interior, planning and development, energy, trade, establishment, cabinet, national security, inter-provincial coordination, law and justice and parliamentary affairs.
The PPP, a major ally of the government, was reported to get the ministries of foreign affairs, water resources, health, human rights, education, climate change, communications, industries and production, besides the head of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP).
It was also learnt that the JUI-F is to get the housing and works, and religious affairs ministries. The Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) will get the defense production ministry. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) will get two ministries of maritime affairs and information technology.
On the other hand, some government allies are still said to be “unsatisfied” over the demands they had extended to the government regarding distribution of ministries and other lucrative positions.
Similarly, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has demanded immediate general elections after being annoyed over the non-fulfillment of his demands regarding distribution of ministries and some constitutional posts.
