ISLAMABAD: After several days of consultation, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is expected to announce the names of federal cabinet members tonight (Friday) as the premier will host the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) leadership for an iftar dinner at PM House.
According to details, the prime minister has invited the coalition parties for an iftar dinner, where a discussion is expected on the strategy the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) will adopt to run government affairs.
At the dinner, the premier will likely thank all the parties within PDM for working together to get him elected as the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Sources have claimed that PM Shehbaz will finalise the ongoing consultation over the federal cabinet tonight.
A final decision on which parties will be included and how much representation each would have in the cabinet is likely after the dinner today, the sources added.
Earlier, it was reported that PM Shehbaz Sharif had decided to add 12 Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNAs to his federal cabinet, while Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) would get seven slots.
According to sources, Raja Pervez Ashraf is the candidate for National Assembly speaker as the office is vacant after Asad Qaiser decided to step down late Saturday, while a JUI-F MNA might become the deputy speaker — as Qasim Suri is also facing a no-confidence motion.
Meanwhile, apart from the PML-N and PPP members, JUI-F will get three ministries and a state minister portfolio, MQM-P, BAP, and BNP-M will get two ministries each. Independent candidates are also likely to get ministries, the sources said.
The MQM-P will get the governorship of Sindh, PPP of Punjab, JUI-F of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and BNP-M of Balochistan, the sources said.
The prime minister has been engaged in separate meetings with PPP leaders Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, other politicians, as well as journalists to discuss the cabinet formation.
