PESHAWAR, June 13: Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Shaukatullah administered oath of office to 12 ministers of the provincial government on Thursday.
The names of ministers were finalised at a meeting on Wednesday night. Their portfolios were not announced. According to sources, Chief Minister Pervez Khattak was still in consultation with coalition partners.
Of the 12 ministers sworn in on Thursday, seven are from Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) — Shaukat Ali Yousafzai, Israrullah Gandapur, Yousuf Ayub, Shah Farman, Ali Amin Gandapur, Atif Khan and Mehmood Khan. They are expected to get the portfolios of health and information, law, communication and works, public health engineering, revenue, elementary education and excise and taxation, respectively.
Two of the ministers are from Jamaat-i-Isalami (JI) — Inayatullah Khan and Habibur Rehman. Their expected portfolios are local government and Zakat & Usher.
Two ministers are from Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) — Bakht Baidar and Ibrar Hussan Kamoli. They are expected to get the portfolios of manpower & industry and environment.
One minister, Shahram Khan Taraki, is from Awami Jamhuri Ittehad Pakistan and he is expected to get agriculture.
Two senior ministers — Sirajul Haq of JI and Sikandar Khan Sherpao of QWP — earlier took oath as senior ministers. Mr Haq has been assigned the portfolio of finance and Mr Sherpao energy, power and irrigation.
Shaukat Yousafzai told reporters that five advisers and five special assistants to the chief minister would also be appointed in a few days. The advisers would have the status of minister.
According to the sources, some women may be included in the cabinet as advisers. Talking to reporters after the ceremony, Chief Minister Pervez Khattak denied that he had held any discussion with the Corps Commander of Peshawar, Lt-Gen Khalid Rabbani, about the withdrawal of troops from Swat.
Answering a question, he said the issue of withdrawal of troops from Swat would be discussed with relevant authorities after consultation with elected representatives and notables of the area.
He said his government would present a balanced but people-friendly budget for fiscal year 2013-2014.
