Newly elected PM Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday continued consultations within his own party over the federal cabinet, which is likely to be constituted in a couple of days.

Sources say that Khawaja Asif will retain the portfolio of defence, Musaddiq Malik will get petroleum, Ahsan Iqbal will hold onto the planning and development ministry while Azam Nazeer Tarar will be the law minister again.

Atta Tarar is tipped to be the new information minister, while Shaza Fatima Khwaja is being named as minister for IT.

However, it is unclear who will lead the finance team, as both Ishaq Dar and HBL chief Muhammad Aurangzeb have been participating in recent meetings on the economic situation.

Former caretaker chief minister of Punjab and current Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi is also in the run for interior minister, and has admitted that he would be a candidate for the upcoming Senate elections.

Reports indicate that Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party President Aleem Khan and PML-Q leader Chaudhry Salik could also join the cabinet in the first phase.

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