ISLAMABAD Aug. 4 (TNS): A 47-member new cabinet that includes 28 federal and 19 state ministers has taken oath in a ceremony at Prime Minister House in Islamabad today (Friday). Apart from retaining most members of the previous cabinet, the new cabinet includes six new federal and 12 state ministers.
According to details, President Mamnoon Hussain administered the oath to the members while interim Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was also present on the occasion.
A new ministry of ‘power’ has also been formed after combining the ministries of petroleum and electricity, sources added. A separate ministry of water will be formed as well. The prime minister, who held the portfolio of petroleum and natural resources ministry in the previous cabinet, will head the new power ministry.
The members of the cabinet, speaking after the president, repeated their oath of office submitted the signed oaths to the president. Following the oath-taking, the new prime minister is chairing the first session of his cabinet.
Khawaja Asif has become Foreign Minister, Ahsan Iqbal appointed as Interior Minister while Khurram Dastagir was given Defense Ministry.
Ishaq Dar and Marriyum Aurangzeb remained Finance Minister and Information Minister respectively in the new federal cabinet. Mushahid Ullah Khan was sworn in as Environment Minister.
Some new faces are also introduced in the cabinet like Talal Chaudhry became Minister of State for Interior while Pervez Malik was elected as State Minister for Commerce.
Others who sworn in as the federal ministers included Barjees Tahir, Parvaiz Malik, Zahid Hamid, Mumtaz Ahmed Tarar, Salahuddin Tirmizi and Rana Tanveer.
Daniyal Aziz, Tariq Fazal Chaudhry , Mohsin Shah Nawaz Ranjha, Pir Ameer ul Hasnat, Anusha Rahman, Jam Kamal Khan, Barrister Usman Ibrahim, Junaid Anwaar Chaudhary, Abdul Rehman Kanjo, Awais Laghari, Ghalib Khan, Ayaz Shirazi, Chaudhry Jafar Iqbal and Dostain Khan took oath as state ministers.
buy viagra generic https://viagra4pleasurerx.com over the counter
However, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, Sardar Yousuf and other ministers retained their portfolios.
The PML-N had been deliberating over membership of the new cabinet over the past few days, as well as its contender for the upcoming NA-120 by-poll for the seat left vacant by ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
The court in its July 28 verdict concluded that Sharif had been ‘dishonest’ by not declaring in his nomination papers for the 2013 General Election ─ as required under Section 12(2)(f) of the Representation of the People Act (ROPA), 1976 ─ a salary of 10,000 dirhams receivable as chairman of the board of Dubai-based company Capital FZE owned by his son Hassan Nawaz.
Following the prime minister’s ouster, PML-N leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was nominated as the party’s choice for interim prime minister. He was elected premier by MNAs on Tuesday, and took oath on the same day.
Abbasi, in his maiden speech to the National Assembly following his election, put forward his vision to improve the socio-economic conditions and security situation in the country, showing that he has some personal ambitions apart from PML-N guidelines.
“I am the country’s prime minister. If I am here for 45 days, I will do 45 months of work in this time,” he promised.
It was reported earlier that the upcoming federal cabinet will include five new faces, according to sources familiar with the proceedings of the high-level PML-N huddle in Murree.
Sources said Nawaz Sharif had directed prime minister Abbasi and Shehbaz to include natives of South Punjab and the smaller provinces in the cabinet. Nawaz, PM Abbasi and Shehbaz, among others, were holding a meeting on Thursday at Shehbaz’s residence near Murree to finalise names of cabinet members. At the conclusion of the meeting, the newly sworn-in prime minister left for Islamabad.
The PML-N’s consultative session in Murree on Wednesday failed to finalise members of the Khaqani’s cabinet, which led to the postponement of the oath-taking which had been scheduled for 5:30pm.
During the session, it was decided that a meeting of the PML-N’s central working committee would be called in the next few days to decide the party’s internal matters. Sources said that Nawaz Sharif will likely be given a ceremonious title as the party’s head since his present position of party president cannot continue owing to the Panama Papers case verdict. Sources added that Shehbaz Sharif could be nominated as the party’s president.
Comments are closed.