02 July 2004	Friday	13 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

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ISLAMABAD, July 1: The cabinet division has not issued so far formal notifications about portfolios of 27 cabinet members who were sworn in on Wednesday, owing to differences over allotment of portfolios to two ministers from Fata.

Cabinet sources told Dawn that the two newly-appointed Fata ministers - Mohammad Ajmal Khan and Dr Ghazi Ghulam Jamal - were demanding ministries of Northern Areas and States and Frontier Regions, and Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis.

The sources said Pakistan People's Party President Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao was not ready to surrender the Ministry of Nothern Areas and States and Frontier Regions and wanted to continue with his previously held ministries of Water and Power, and the other portfolios.

Furthermore, Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, said these sources, had already made a commitment to another parliamentarian, who is yet to join the cabinet, the allotment of ministry of labour and manpower.

Some ministers of the Jamali cabinet retained by Chaudhry Shujaat kept on asking the cabinet division on Thursday for issuance of notifications. They were told by the cabinet division that their notifications were ready but could not be issued unless portfolios were allotted to the two new ministers.

Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed was not available for comment. Information secretary Anwar Mehmood, however, said that ministers were told by the prime minister on Wednesday to continue their work in their respective ministries. He, however, said he was not aware as to why formal notifications had not been issued yet.