ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The newly elected Prime Minister Imran Khan has approved a 20-member Federal Cabinet, comprising on 15 ministers and five advisors, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Central Information Secretary Fawad Chaudhry said.
In a twitter message, Fawad Chaudhry said that the Cabinet members will take the Oath of their Offices on Monday morning at the Aiwan-e-Sadr (President House) in Islamabad.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has approved twenty member cabinet, the cabinet comprises on fifteen federal ministers and five advisers, The ministers shall take oath on Monday morning at President’s House
— Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) August 18, 2018
Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Hussain Qureshi has been appointed as the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Pervez Khattak as the Minister for Defence, Asad Umar as the Minister for Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs, Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed as the Minister for Railways, Fehmida Mirza as the Minister for Inter Provincial Coordination, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui as the Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication, and Shafqat Mehmood as the Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training as well as National History and Literacy Heritage Division.
Likewise, Senator Dr Muhammad Farogh Naseem has been appointed as the Minister for Law and Justice, Chaudhry Tariq Bashir Cheema as the Minister for States and Frontier Regions, Noor-Ul-Haq Qadri as the Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony, Dr Shireen M. Mazari as the Minister for Human Rights, Dr Ghulam Sarwar Khan as the Minister for Petroleum Division, Zubaida Jalal as the Minister for Defence Production, Fawad Chaudhry as the Minister for Information and Broadcasting Division, and Aamir Mehmood Kiyani as the Minister for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination.
In addition, Mohammad Shehzad Arbab has been appointed as Advisor for Establishment, Abdul Razak Dawood as Advisor for Commerce, Textile, Industry & Production and Investment, Dr Ishtar Hussain as Advisor for Institutional Reforms and Austerity, Amin Aslam as Advisor for Climate Change, and Zaheer-ud-din Babar Awan as Advisor for Parliamentary Affairs.
Imran Khan will also address the nation in the evening tomorrow (Sunday), in which he will announce strategies and priorities of his government.
Earlier in the day, Imran Khan took the Oath as Pakistan’s 22nd Prime Minister at the Aiwan-e-Sadr, and later he also inspected a guard of honour presented to him by a contingent drawn from three services on his arrival at Prime Minister’s House.
Meanwhile, the former Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mohammad Azam was posted as the Secretary to the Prime Minister.
Meanwhile, political analysts have lauded Imran Khan’s decision of appointing Noor-Ul-Haq Qadri as the Federal Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony.
Political analysts are of view that Qadri belongs to the tribal region but he is qualified person and has been an advocate of introducing reforms in religious seminaries.
However, analysts took it as surprise that Zubaida Jalal – who was once a part of Pervez Musharraf’s Kitchen Cabinet and even was reportedly being considered to be nominated as Pakistan’s Prime Minister under the alleged pressure of the US – has returned as a Minister for Defence Production.
They said that as Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s (MQM) Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui and Senator Dr Muhammad Farogh Naseem – who is also deemed as a close aide of Musharraf – have been allocated federal ministries, the Ministry of Port & Shipping will also likely fall to MQM-P as well in the future.
