Caretaker cabinet swells as CM inducts another aide
Caretaker Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa CM Azam Khan. PHOTO: FILE
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Caretaker Chief Minister Azam Khan has added another member to the caretaker provincial cabinet.
On Tuesday, Hidayatullah Khan Afridi was appointed as advisor to the chief minister, bringing the total strength of the cabinet to 26.
Afridi is the brother of former PTI provincial minister Ziaullah Afridi.
It may be mentioned here that Hidayatullah Tori tendered his resignation recently for unspecified reasons. He had not been assigned any portfolio.
On January 26, a 15-member caretaker provincial cabinet of K-P was sworn in at a ceremony held at the Governor House in Peshawar.
K-P interim Chief Minister Azam Khan formed a 15-member provincial cabinet, which includes 12 ministers and three advisors.
Governor Ghulam Ali administered the oath to the cabinet members, felicitating them and conveying his best wishes.
The interim provincial ministers included Haji Ghafran, Khush Dil Khan, Hamid Shah, Advocate Saul Nazir, Fazal Elahi, Adnan Jalil, Taj Muhammad Afridi, Muhammad Ali Shah and Justice (Rtd) Irshad Qaiser.
Rehmat Salam Khattak, Shakir Allah and Himayatullah Khan have been appointed as advisors.
Ex-Chief Secretary Dr Shehzad Bangash, former Inspector General of Police Moazzam Jah Ansari, former Commissioner Peshawar Riaz Mehsud, heads of administrative departments, and other political and social personalities were present at the oath-taking ceremony.
The development came days after Muhammad Azam Khan took oath as the caretaker chief minister at a swearing-in ceremony at the Governor House.
Khan, who belongs to Charsadda, has previously served as K-P finance minister from October 24, 2007, to April 1, 2008.
He also remained the secretary of the ministry of petroleum and natural resources in Islamabad and the chief secretary in K-P from September 1990 to July 1993.
On March 4, Chief Minister Muhammad Azam Khan appointed Barrister Feroz Jamal Shah Kaka Khel as a minister and five advisors.
Governor Haji Ghulam Ali administered the oath to Kaka Khel.
Other cabinet members namely Shafiullah, Fazal Ilahi, Manzoor Afridi, Abdul Haleem Qasoria, Sanwal Nazir, Shahid Khattak and Hamid Shah were also present on this occasion.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 29th, 2023.