33-member federal cabinet takes oath

ISLAMABAD - The formation of the coalition government finally completed with the oath taking of 33-member federal cabinet held at the President House here yesterday.

Acting president and Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani administered the oath to the cabinet. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was also present on the occasion. Thirty federal ministers and three ministers of state are included in the cabinet.

Those who took oath as federal ministers included Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Ahsan Iqbal, Rana Sanaullah, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Rana Tanveer Hussain, Khurram Dastgir Khan, Marriyum Aurangzeb, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Miftah Ismail, Riaz Hussain Pirzada, Murtaza Javed Abbasi, Azam Nazeer Tarar, Syed Khurshid Ahmad Shah, Syed Naveed Qamar, Sherry Rehman, Abdul Qadir Patel, Shazia Marri, Syed Murtaza Mahmood, Sajid Hussain Toori, Ahsan ur Rehman Mazari, Abid Hussain, Asad Mahmood, Abdul Wassey, Mufti Abdul Shakoor, Muhammad Talha Mahmood, Syed Amin-ul-Haq, Syed Faisal Ali Sabzwari,  Muhammad Israr Tareen, Nawabzada Shahzain Bugti and Tariq Bashir Cheema. The ministers of state who took the oath included Dr Aisha Ghaus Pasha, Hina Rabbani Khar and Abdul Rehman Khan Kanju.

Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervez Ashraf, former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto were also present. Bilawal, however, did not take oat.

Qamar Zaman Kaira, Engineer Amir Muqam and Awn Chaudhary have been appointed as advisers to PM.

As Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday announced the names of ministers, state ministers and advisers of his government, the disgruntled group of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led by Jahangir Khan Tareen also succeeded to get a slot in the “coalition cabinet”.

| Kh Asif made Minister of Defence, Ahsan Iqbal Minister for Planning and Development, Rana Sanaullah gets Ministry of Interior, Rana Tanveer Education, Sherry Rehman Climate Change, Marriyum Aurangzeb Information, Khawaja Saad Rafique Railways, Khursheed Shah Water Resources, Mufti Abdul Shakoor Religious Affairs, Faisal Ali Subzwari Maritime Affairs, Shahzain Bugti Narcotics Control, Tariq Bashir Cheema Food Security

Bilawal avoids to take oath as foreign minister

Earlier, announcing his cabinet, PM Shehbaz also approved appointment of his three advisers by giving one each slot to the allies including PPP, and Tareen group besides nominating one adviser from his own party — PML-N.

According to a notification issued by the Cabinet Division, Awn Chaudhry who is a leader of Taren group, has been appointed as adviser to the prime minister. The PM has advised the President to approve the appointment under clause 1 of Article 93 of the Constitution, reads the official letter.

The Tareen group has helped the PML-N in forming its government in Punjab by toppling the then chief minister Usman Buzdar government.

Chaudhry was once a close aide to former prime minister and Chairman PTI Imran Khan and also remained head of the chairman secretariat at his Bani Gala residence but he was sidelined when the party came into power in August 2018.

After this, he was appointed as a special adviser to then chief minister Buzdar but resigned in August 2021 after he faced allegations from the PTI for lobbying against its own government by joining Tareen group. PTI had asked him either to leave Tareen group or resign from his position and he chose the latter.

The business tycoon Tareen had formed his own group within PTI, which comprised over 30 disgruntled lawmakers of then ruling party, after the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in an investigation had held him responsible for benefitting from the sugar scam.

 

According to details, Khawaja Asif has been made Minister of Defence, Ahsan Iqbal as Minister for Planning and Development, Rana Sanaullah has been given Ministry of Interior, Rana Tanveer Hussain has been given Ministry of Education and Professional Traning, Sherry Rehman has been made Minister of Climate Change, Marriyum Aurangzeb as Minister of Information, Khawaja Saad Rafique as Minister of Railways, Syed Khursheed Shah as Minister of Water Resources, Syed Naveed Qamar as Minister of Commerce, Abdul Qadir Patel as Minister of Health, Shazia Marri as Minister of Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety, Syed Murtaza Mahmud has been made Minister for Industries, Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development has been given to Sajid Hussain Turi, Ehsaan-ur-Rehman Mazari as Minister of Human Rights, Abid Hussain Bhayo has been made Minister of Privatisation, Ministry of Communication has been given to Asad Mahmood, Abdul Wasay has been allocated Ministry of Housing and Works, Mufti Abdul Shakoor has been made Minister of Religious Affairs and Inter-faith Harmony, Muhammad Talha Mahmood is given Ministry of SAFFRON, Information and Technology Ministry is given to Syed Amin-ul-Haque, Syed Faisal Ali Subzwari has been made Minister of Maritime Affairs, Muhammad Israr Tareen has been made Ministry of Defence Production, Ministry of Narcotics Control is given to Shahzain Bugti, Ministry of Food Security and Research is allocated to Tariq Bashir Cheema.

 

Aisha Ghaus Pasha has been made minister of state for finance and revenue, while Hina Rabbani Khar has been made as minister of state for foreign affairs. Qamar Zaman Kaira has been appointed as Adviser to PM on Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan.

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