6 ministers added to Imran’s Cabinet

Five of the new ministers were rewarded for defeating political heavyweights

Six more ministers were inducted into Pakistan’s federal cabinet yesterday, bringing the number of cabinet members to 38. President Arif Alvi administered the oath of office to the new cabinet members.

Prime Minister Imran Khan, however, did not attend the swearing-in ceremony.

Among the new federal ministers is Senator Azam Swati who is the new federal minister for science and technology. Mohammad Mian Soomro takes over as federal minister for privatisation, while Ali Ameen Gandapur has been handed charge of Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan.

Sahibzada Mehboob Sultan takes control of the agriculture portfolio while Faisal Vadwa is in charge of water resources. Zartaj Gul is minister of state for climate change.

Second expansion

This is the second time the federal cabinet has been expanded within a period of one month.

Out of the six, five defeated heavyweight of rival political parties and, according to sources, “the PTI-government has rewarded them for serving crushing defeats to their rivals in the general elections.”

Vadwa hails from Karachi and defeated Shehbaz Sharif in the NA-249 constituency during the July 25 elections.

Elsewhere, Sultan won against Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate and former federal minister Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat in Jhang’s NA-114 constituency.

Meanwhile, Zartaj Gul defeated Dera Ghazi Khan’s feudal supremo. A 34-year-old with no previous success in politics, Gul defeated the heavyweight Leghari family, Awais Khan Leghari, in the NA-191 Dera Ghazi Khan constituency.

Mohammad Mian Soomro defeated PPP Member of National Assembly Aijaz Hussain Jakhrani in the NA-196 Jaccobabad constituency. Gandapur defeated none other than Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman.