PESHAWAR: The new nine-member caretaker cabinet of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was sworn in on Saturday.
Governor KP Haji Ghulam Ali administered oath to the new cabinet at the Governor’s House. Caretaker Chief Minister Azam Khan was also present at the meeting.
The revamped provincial cabinet includes nine ministers, 2 advisers, and one special assistant. Portfolios of the ministers will be announced later.
Syed Masood Shah, Barrister Feroz Jamal Shah, Justice retired Irshad Qaiser have been appointed as caretaker ministers. Ahmad Rasool Bangash, Asif Rafiq, Dr. Najibullah, Dr Muhammad Qasim Jan, Justice retired Arshad Hussain Shah, Syed Amir Abdullah have also been included in the cabinet.
Dr Riaz Anwar and Dr Sarfaraz Ali Shah will be advisors to the Chief Minister while Zafarullah Khan has been appointed as Special Assistant to Chief Minister.
On this occasion, provincial Governor Haji Ghulam Ali congratulated caretaker cabinet and hoped they will utilize their energies for the development and prosperity of the province.
A day earlier, KP Governor Haji Ghulam Ali has approved the summary for the caretaker provincial cabinet. The previous cabinet was dismissed on the orders of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) after several members participated in political activities.
On August 10, 19 members of the last caretaker cabinet tendered their resignations to the CM over their purported involvement in politics.
The other six members stepped down the next day. At least two cabinet members resisted the directives and insisted were neither involved in politics nor held political gatherings.
Caretaker minister Shahid Khattak resigned on July 24 after he addressed a public meeting organized by the Awami National Party.
The ECP wrote a letter to the caretaker CM saying that his government is bound to conduct elections in a free, fair, transparent and impartial manner. The ECP asked Azam Khan to sack all his cabinet members involved in politics.
On Aug 12, Governor Ghulam Ali accepted the resignations of 14 ministers and 11 aides to the chief minister including six special assistants and five advisers.
