ISLAMABAD: On Monday, at a ceremony conducted at the President’s House, the 19-member new federal cabinet took the oath of office.
The oath was given by newly elected President Asif Ali Zardari.
Sworn in were Ishaq Dar, Azam Nazir Tarar, Attaullah Tarar, Khawaja Asif, Ahsan Iqbal, Ameer Mukam, Owais Leghari, Jam Kamal, Salik Hussain, Riyaz Pirzada, Rana Tanveer, Qaiser Sheikh, Ahad Cheema, Musadiq Malik, and Muhammad Aurangzeb.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other members of the military and political elite were present at the event.
Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Planning, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Information, Ministry of Privatisation, and other ministries will assign portfolios during the first phase.
It is anticipated that the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) will receive one ministry and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) two.
The premier has called the first meeting of the recently sworn-in federal cabinet for today at 5:00 p.m.
Shehbaz’s unnecessarily large federal cabinet during his 16-month stint as PM (April 2022–August 2023) drew considerable criticism, with some characterising it as a financial drain on taxpayers amid economic hardships.
According to PML-N sources, PM Shehbaz plans to nominate a small number of “competent individuals” as ministers to supervise important ministries during the first phase of his plan.
They said that there might be additional inductions in the future, with cabinet vacancies being targeted by members of the MQM-P, PMLQ, and IPP.
The PPP has already stated that it will not be participating in the upcoming federal cabinet.
PM Shehbaz nevertheless sent out a second invitation to the party hierarchy to become a member of the cabinet. According to one of the individuals, “The PPP kindly declined the offer but will continue to provide input on policy formulation.”
