January 3, 2003	Friday	Shawwal 29, 1423

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LAHORE, Jan 2: A 20-member Punjab cabinet is expected to take oath on Friday, 35 days after the swearing-in of Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi as the Chief Minister.

The delay in the announcement of the cabinet is unprecedented which was caused mainly by the chief minister’s concentration on the vote of confidence of the prime minister and the PML-Q’s internal frictions triggered by differences between its former president Mian Muhammad Azhar and Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain.

Chaudhry Pervaiz was elected on Nov 29 in the second session of the Assembly which first met on Nov 25 for the oath of the members and election of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker.

Governor Khalid Maqbool will administer the oath to the new cabinet at the Governor’s House at 6pm. A large number of parliamentarians, judges of the Lahore High Court and senior civil and military officers will attend the ceremony.

The chief minister reportedly finalized the names of his cabinet ministers at a meeting with the governor on Wednesday night. PML-Q Acting President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain accompanied the chief minister during the latter’s meeting with the governor.

According to sources, 20 MPAs had been included in the list of the first batch of the cabinet. Prominent among them are Arshad Khan Lodhi, Chaudhry Muhammad Iqbal, Imran Masood, Hasnain Bahadur Dareshak, Amer Sultan Cheema, Shaheen Attiqur Rehman, Dr Tahir Javed, Malik Ahmad Khan, Raza Ali Gardezi and Shaukat Bhatti.

The sources said that the National Alliance’s Hussain Jahania Gardezi, PPP Patriots’ Makhdoom Ashfaq Ahmad and PML Junejo’s Khadim Wattoo were also in the race.

Portfolios of the new ministers would be announced afterwards but the sources said PPP Patriots’ Makhdoom Ashfaq, younger brother of late Makhdoom Altaf Ahmad of the PPP, was likely to be made the finance minister.

They quoted Arshad Lodhi as the new revenue and planning and development minister, Imran Masood education minister, Dr Tahir Javed health minister, Jahania Gardezi cooperatives minister, and Shaheen Attiqur Rehman social welfare minister. Khadim Wattoo of the PML-J is expected to get the portfolio of law.

The sources expected inclusion of some more ministers in the cabinet after the byelections in the province.