Sadiq, Dastgir among five ministers assigned portfolios

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has allocated portfolios to four federal ministers and one minister of state, a week after they took the oath.

Khurram Dastgir Khan has been given the Minister of Power, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq Economic Affairs, Riaz Hussain Pirzada Human Rights and Murtaza Javed Abbasi was assigned the portfolio of Parliamentary Affairs, according to Radio Pakistan.

Muhammad Hashim Notezai has been appointed as Minister of State for Power. Cabinet Division has issued a notification to this effect.

Last week, PM Shehbaz unveiled the federal cabinet, comprising 31 ministers and three ministers of state, including five women, doling out the ministerial posts to all the political heavyweights from the coalition parties.

The new cabinet sprang no big surprises, as it drew mostly from the prime minister’s own Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) and its major ally, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). Both parties combined forces to oust the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government through a no-confidence vote on April 10.

Also read: Political heavyweights make way to new federal cabinet

Like the oath-taking of Prime Minister Shehbaz himself, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani was summoned in his capacity as the acting president for the swearing-in of the new ministers.

The ministers from the PML-N are: Khawaja Asif, Ahsan Iqbal, Rana Sanaullah, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Rana Tanveer Hussain, Khurrum Dastagir Khan, Marriyum Aurangzeb, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada, Javed Latif, Murtaza Javed Abbasi, Azam Nazeer Tarar, and Miftah Ismail.

The ministers from the PPP are: Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah, Syed Naveed Qamar, Sherry Rehman, Abdul Qadir Patel, Shazia Marri, Syed Murtaza Mahmud, Sajid Hussain Turi, Ehsaanur Rehman Mazari and Abid Hussain Bhayo.

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) ministers are: Asad Mahmood, Abdul Wasay, Mufti Abdul Shakoor; and Talha Mahmood. Syed Aminul Haque and Syed Faisal Ali Subzwari represent the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P).

One ministry each has been given to the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) and the Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP). The ministers are Muhammad Israr Tareen, and Nawabzada Shazain Bugti, representing the two parties, respectively. PML-Quaid’s Tariq Bashir Cheema has also been made a minister.