LAHORE/PESHAWAR: Newly elected members of the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cabinets were sworn in on Wednesday.
In Lahore, Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman administered oath to the 18-member cabinet of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz.
The ceremony, held at the Governor House, was attended by Maryam, Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Muhammad Khan and provincial police chief Usman Anwar among others.
The cabinet members who were sworn in included Marriyum Aurangzeb, Syed Muhammad Ashiq Hussain Shah, Muhammad Kazim Pirzada, Rana Sikandar Hayat, Khawaja Imran Nazeer, Khawaja Salman Rafique, Zeeshan Rafique, Bilal Akbar Khan, Sohaib Ahmed Malik, Azma Zahid Bukhari, Bilal Yasin, Ramesh Sindh Arora, Khalil Tahir, Faisal Ayub, Shafay Hussain, Sher Ali Gorchani, Sohail Shoukat Butt and Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman.
According to the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan, portfolios to the ministers were likely to be notified later today.
Talking to journalists after the oath-taking ceremony, CM Maryam congratulated and lauded the newly appointed members. “Young and very talented people have been inducted in the cabinet,” she said.
Earlier, a PML-N insider told that Azma Bokhari was being given the portfolio of information ministry while Marriyum — who has been brought to Punjab from the centre to assist the CM — would also get an important ministry. Both were inducted into the assembly on reserved seats for women.
KP cabinet
In KP, the provincial cabinet comprising 15 ministers and five advisors was administered oath by Governor Haji Ghulam Ali.
During the oath-taking ceremony, held at the Governor House in Peshawar, the newly elected cabinet members chanted slogans in favour of PTI founder Imran Khan and also carried a frame featuring his photograph.
The ministers sworn in included Arshad Ayub Khan, Shakeel Ahmad, Fazal Hakim Khan, Muhammad Adnan Qadri, Aqibullah Khan, Muhammad Sajjad, Meena Khan, Fazal Shakoor, Nazir Ahmad Abbasi, Pakhtoon Yar Khan, Aftab Alam Khan Afridi, Khaleequr Rehman, Syed Qasim Ali Shah, Faisal Khan Tarakai and Muhammad Zahir Shah.
Syed Fakhar Jehan, Muzamil Aslam, Muhammad Ali Saif, Mashal Azam and Zahid Chanzeb were appointed as advisers to the chief minister.
Earlier in the day, KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur sent a summary regarding the appointment of the provincial cabinet to the governor, which was subsequently notified.
The development came a day after CM Gandapur met incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi and discussed the formation of the provincial cabinet with him.
Speaking to the media after he met with Imran, Gandapur had said the PTI would never reconcile with the Shehbaz Sharif-led PML-N government which he claimed was formed by “stealing seats”.
However, he added, a working relationship with the federal government would be maintained.
