President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday administered oath of office to new federal ministers and ministers of state at a swearing-in ceremony here at the Presidency.
The Cabinet Division has officially issued a notification confirming the appointment of 12 federal ministers and nine ministers of state. Additionally, notifications for the appointment of three advisors and four special assistants to the prime minister were also issued on Thursday.The newly inducted officials have been included in the expanded federal cabinet, with their portfolios to be announced later.
The event began with the playing of the national anthem followed by recitation from the Holy Quran. Leadership of mainstream political parties, parliamentarians and senior government officials attended the event.
The newly sworn-in federal ministers include Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, Ali Pervaiz Malik, Aurangzeb Khan Khichi, Khalid Hussain Magsi, Muhammad Hanif Abbasi, Muhammad Mueen Wattoo, Muhammad Junaid Anwar, Muhammad Raza Hayat Haraj, Sardar Muhammad Yousaf, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Rana Mubashar Iqbal, and Syed Mustafa Kamal.
The ministers of state who took the oath include Mailk Rasheed Ahmed Khan, Aqeel Malik, Bilal Azhar Kayani, Kesoo Mal Kheal Das, Mohammad Awn Saqlain, Mukhtar Ahmad Malik, Talal Chaudhry, and Wajiha Qamar.
PM’s advisors Dr Syed Tauqir Hussain Shah, Muhammad Ali and Pervez Khattak, and Special Assitants Haroon Akhtar, Huzaifa Rehman, Mubarak Zeb, and Talha Burki also took oath of office.
PPP could not become part of the federal government. After the induction of 25 new ministers, total number of Cabinet members has touched 50. The notification for the appointment of 12 federal ministers and 9 state ministers was issued. The notification for the appointment of 3 new advisers and 4 special assistants to the Prime Minister was also issued. Shiza Fatima and Ali Pervaiz Malik were elevated as federal ministers. Muhammad Ali was retired as a special assistant after becoming an advisor to PM. Now the number of federal ministers has increased to 30. The number of Ministers of State was 9 and the number of Chief Ministers was 4. The number of Special Assistants to the Prime Minister has increased to 7.
Reporter Awais Kiyani