ISLAMABAD, Aug 20: The prime minister-in-waiting, Mr Shaukat Aziz, is likely to include a number of new faces in his cabinet, reshuffle portfolios of some of the ministers and even drop a few of them when he forms his cabinet after taking charge of office next week, according to well-placed sources.

More than half of the new ministers might be taken from among the young MNAs to infuse new blood into the cabinet, the sources told Dawn.

Earlier it was believed that the president of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League, incumbent Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, would play a major role in selection of the new cabinet, but he himself indicated the other day that Mr Aziz himself would select his team.

President Pervez Musharraf will undoubtedly have the final say in the finalization of the new cabinet and it is said that he is in favour of including some new, young faces.

The president, it may be mentioned, hinted last week that ministers in the new cabinet would be taken on the basis of performance. Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad said the president's statement meant that the new cabinet would be selected on merit.

Most ministers in the present cabinet do not agree with the notion of a major reshuffle in their portfolios despite the fact that a decision is reported to have been taken at the highest level to go for a new-look cabinet.

The main hurdle in any major reshuffle of portfolios will be political. For instance, the new PPP comprising PPP-Patriots and PPP-Sherpao has been on record to have sought a commitment from Chaudhry Shujaat at the time of his assuming the office not to alter the portfolios of its ministers.

However, Rao Sikandar Iqbal, a senior minister in the cabinet and chairman of the PPP, confirmed that there could be some reshuffle in the cabinet but ruled out a possibility that any of his party's ministers would be dropped.

Talking to Dawn in the lobby of Parliament House, Rao Sikandar said: "Do not expect many changes in the new cabinet, except for a few". He confirmed that he had been assured that there would be no changes in the number of ministers from his party.

On the other hand, there is pressure from within the PML that a couple of important portfolios, now with the PPP, should be reassigned. The MQM is also aspiring for another slot in the new cabinet. A federal minister who did not want to be identified said: "There will be a major reshuffle in the cabinet and a few may be dropped as well".

Among the young lot aspiring to be included in Mr Aziz's cabinet are Omar Ayub, son of former foreign minister and speaker Gohar Ayub Khan; Senator Mohammad Ali Durrani, a prominent leader of Sardar Farooq Ahmed Leghari's dissolved Millat Party, Omar Ghuman, a young lawmaker admired for his command over English; and Malik Amin Aslam from Attock, who spearheaded the election campaign of Mr Aziz.

Mr Omar Ayub is being tipped to become the minister of state for finance, with Mr Aziz likely to retain the main finance portfolio. Lawyer Zahid Hamid and PPP's Dr Sher Afgan are contenders for the post of law ministry.