LAHORE, Dec 31: Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi has hinted that the provincial cabinet is expected to be announced in a couple of days.

According to a handout issued here on Tuesday, the chief minister said the size of the cabinet would be kept “reasonable”. However, the handout also indicated that Chaudhry Pervaiz also planned to give representation to all 34 districts of the province in his cabinet.

It is probably for the first time in the history of the province that the chief minister has not announced his ministers even after over a month of his assuming the top slot.

Sources say formation of the cabinet had been delayed by the chief minister in order to secure some time to make it possible for the prime minister to get vote of confidence in the National Assembly.

The intra-party differences of Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, PML-Q parliamentary party leader in the National Assembly Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and others with party president Mian Azhar, who has since resigned from the office under pressure, were also stated to be responsible for delay in the announcement of the cabinet. The government wanted the issue to be settled before announcing the provincial cabinet.

The handout quoted the chief minister as saying he would consult all “allies”, including the People’s Party Parliamentarians (Patriots), on distribution of ministries.