ISLAMABAD, Oct 28: Engineer Amir Muqam has been appointed adviser to prime minister with the status of a federal minister, according to a press release issued by the prime minister’s office on Monday. His portfolio will be announced later.

Mr Muqam was defeated in the May 11 general elections but because of his connections with the PML-N leadership, many believed that he would be able to get some position in the government.

He is the third member of the present cabinet who were previously elected MNA from the platform of the PML-Q and served as ministers.

Zahid Hamid, federal Minister for Science and Technology, and Riaz Hussain Pirzada, Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination, have also represented the PML-Q before joining the PML-N.

Mr Muqam, who was minister of state for water and power and political affairs in the cabinet of Shaukat Aziz, has earned the distinction of being associated with three political parties over the past 10 years.

Elected on the ticket of Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal with the support of Jamaat-i-Islami in the 2002 elections from Shangla district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he quit the party to join the ruling PML-Q and closely worked with former president General Pervez Musharraf.