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ISLAMABAD: Haji Khuda Bux Rajar of Pakistan Muslim League-Functional and Istiqbal Khan of Awami National Party were sworn in as federal ministers here on Tuesday.
Their portfolios were not announced, but sources told Dawn that Mr Khan would be minister of state for narcotics.
The induction of the ministers came as a surprise, not only because the government had hinted at reducing the cabinet size but also for the haste in administering the oath to them, without waiting for President Asif Zardari who was to return from Sri Lanka in a few hours.
National Assembly Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza administered the oath as the acting president because Senate Chairman Farooq H. Naek was also out of the country.
It was perhaps the first instance in the country’s history that the prime minister also could not attend the ceremony where his new cabinet colleagues were taking oath of office because he was attending PPP’s Founding Day functions.
Besides, the cabinet was expanded on the day the Implementation Commission on the 18th Amendment, headed by Senator Raza Rabbani, approved devolution of five ministries to the provinces.
Political analysts are of the opinion that the unusual haste displayed by the government to induct the two men, belonging to parties in the ruling coalition, into the federal cabinet had something to do with a meeting of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Finance to be held on Wednesday to review the controversial RGST and flood surcharge bills. The step, they say, appears to be part of an understanding with the PML-F and the ANP.
Haji Khuda Bux Rajar is an MNA from Sanghar in Sindh and Istiqbal Khan represents the ANP from Buner in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
