RECORDER REPORT

ISLAMABAD: President Mamnoon Hussain on Friday administrated oath to as many as 43 cabinet members of Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, comprising mostly old faces but with some reshuffled portfolios.

The oath-taking ceremony was held here at Aiwan-e-Sadr. Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, parliamentarians, senior politicians, diplomats and high-level civil officials attended the oath-taking ceremony. A total of 27 federal ministers and 16 ministers for state took oath.

The new cabinet includes eight members from South Punjab, five each from Balochistan and Sindh, three from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and one each from FATA and Islamabad, while rest of ministers have been chosen from other areas of the country.

The Cabinet Division has notified the names of the following as federal ministers: (1) Hafiz Abdul Kareem (MNA); (2) Lt Gen Abdul Qadir Baloch (Retd) (MNA); (3) Sheikh Aftab Ahmed (MNA); (4) Ahsan lqbal (MNA); (5) Akram Khan Durrani (MNA); (6) Maulana Ameer Zaman (MNA); (7) Sardar Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari (MNA); (8) Ghulam Murtaza Khan Jatoi (MNA); (9) Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo (senator); (10) Syed Javed Ali Shah (MNA); (11) Kamran Michael (senator); (12) Engr Khurram Dastgir Khan (MNA); (13) Khawaja Muhammad Asif (MNA); (14) Muhammad Baligh Ur Rehman (MNA); (15) Muhammad Barjees Tahir (MNA); (16) Muhammad Ishaq Dar (senator); (17) Muhammad Pervaiz Malik (MNA); (18) Sardar Muhammad Yousaf (MNA); (19) Mushahid Ullah Khan (senator); (20) Riaz Hussain Pirzada (MNA); (21) Khawaja Saad Rafique (MNA); (22) Pir Syed Sadaruddin Shah Rashidi (MNA); (23) Saira Afzal Tarar (MNA); (24) Lt Gen (Retd) Salahuddin Tirmizi (senator); (25) Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan (MNA); (26) Rana Tanveer Hussain (MNA); (27) and Zahid Hamid (MNA).

The cabinet members and their expected portfolios are given as: Ishaq Dar, Federal Minister for Finance, Economic Affairs, Revenue and Statistics; Khawaja Asif, Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs; Ahsan Iqbal, Minister for Interior; Khurram Dastgir, Minister for Defense; Sardar Muhammad Yousaf, Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony; Saad Rafique, Minister of Railways; Sheikh Aftab, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs; Abdul Qadir Baloch, Minister for States and Frontier Regions; Baleegh Ur Rehman, Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training; Akram Durrani, Minister for Housing and Works; Riaz Hussain Pirzada, Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination; Mushaid Ullah, Minister for Climate Change; Zahid Hamid, Minister for Law and Justice; and Pervez Malik, Minister for Commerce and Textile.

The Cabinet Division also notified the following names for state ministers: (1) Abdul Rehman Khan Kanju (MNA); (2) Abid Sher Ali (MNA); (3) Anusha Rahman Ahmad Khan (MNA); (4) Dr Darshan (MNA); (5) Ghalib Khan (MNA); (6) Ch Jaffar lqbal (MNA); (7) Jam Kamal Khan (MNA); (8) Marriyum Aurangzeb (MNA); (9) Mohsin Shah Nawaz Ranjha (MNA); (10) Haji Muhammad Akram Ansari (MNA); (11) Pir Muhammad Amin Ul Hasnat Shah (MNA); (12) Sardar Muhammad Arshad Khan Laghari (MNA); (13) Muhammad Junaid Anwaar Chaudhary (MNA); (14) Muhammad Talal Chaudry (MNA); (15) Dr Tariq Fazal Chudhary (MNA); and (16) Usman Ibrahim (MNA).

According to the sources, Daniyal Aziz, Mir Dostain Domki, Ayaz Sherazi and Mumtaz Tarar did not attend the ceremony despite being on the list of new ministers.

The sources said that Daniyal Aziz was disappointed over the party leadership’s decision to appoint him as a minister of state as he was seeking a ‘better slot’. They said that Aziz was aspiring to be inducted as a federal minister.

However, Aziz has refuted these reports and said he stands by PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif and is contented with any decision that the party made.

“I will continue serving the party wholeheartedly no matter what,” he added.