KARACHI: Caretaker Chief Minister retired Justice Maqbool Baqar inducted 10 former members of civil-military bureaucracy, health professionals, businessmen and lawyer as members of his interim cabinet on Saturday.

Governor Kamran Tessori administered oath to the province’s 10-member caretaker cabinet in a simple ceremony held at Governor House.

The caretaker cabinet members, which will run the provincial affairs until new elected government takes the reins, included retired Brigadier Haris Nawaz, former bureaucrat Muhammad Younus Dagha, businessman Mubeen Jumani, Dr Saad Khalid Niaz, Dr Junaid Shah, Rana Hussain, Ishwar Lai, Arshad Wali Muhammad, Omar Soomro and Khuda Bux Marri.

The caretaker chief minister allotted portfolios to the new ministers.

Ex-army officer gets home dept

Retired Brig Nawaz, a security and defence analyst, was given portfolio of home and prisons departments of the province that has been hit by a recent spate of kidnapping for ransoms in riverine (Katcha) areas and street crimes in Karachi.

Upon retirement in 2004 after serving Pakistan Army for 32 years, he settled in Karachi and served in the National Accountability Bureau as director financial crime, Sindh, from 2012 to 2013.

Brig Nawaz, who had worked closely with former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf for two years as Sindh’s general secretary of the All Pakistan Muslim League, had left the party in 2015 and started appearing as a defence and security analyst on national and international talk shows.

He was also appointed as an adviser to the Sindh chief minister during caretaker government in 2018 with portfolios of works & services, prisons, social welfare and special education.

Finance given to former bureaucrat

Muhammad Younus Dhaga, a former Grade-22 officer of the Pakistan Administrative Services, was allotted finance, planning and development and revenue departments.

Dhaga served on several key positions throughout the career and was considered a close aide of former PM Nawaz Sharif.

He had opted for premature retirement after the then Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government in centre had removed him from the post of the federal finance secretary as he was stated to be not in the good books of then PM’s Finance Advisor Hafeez Shiekh.

Law minister

Omar Soomro, an acclaimed lawyer, has been made minister for law, religious affairs and human rights.

Businessman gets local govt portfolio

Muhammad Mubeen Jumani, a business tycoon, was appointed interim local government, housing and town planning, and rehabilitation minister.

An undergraduate from University of Karachi, he was the chairman of the Jumani Group of Companies and was also on the board of Khairpur Sugar Mills Ltd.

Education and health go to teacher, doctor

The lone woman in the 10-member cabinet, Rana Hussain, who’s the principal of Ziauddin College of Education, Ziauddin University, had been given the portfolio school education, college education and women empowerment.

Dr Saad Khalid Niaz, one of the most prominent gastroenterologists with 32 years of experience, was given portfolios of health, social welfare and public engineering.

Ex-PTI MPA’s brother becomes youth affairs minister

Dr Junaid Shah, the chief executive officer of the A.O Clinci and brother of former Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf MPA Dr Imran Ali Shah, has been given the portfolio of youth affairs, sports, culture and human resource development.

He had also served as caretaker minister for health in Sindh in 2013.

Lone representative of minorities get irrigation

Ishwar Lal, a renowned businessman and lone representative of minority communities in the cabinet, has been given the portfolio of irrigation. He was earlier elected as MPA from the platform of Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-i-Azam) from 2002 to 2007.

Besides, Arshad Wali Muhammad, another businessman, was given ministries of tourism, environment and climate change. Khuda Bux Marri got mines and minerals portfolio.

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2023