Twelve KP ministers take oath

Another 12 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ministers took oath at Governor’s House on Thursday.
Governor Shaukatullah Khan administered oath to the new provincial ministers. KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak was also present.
The strength of KP cabinet has now reached to 15. The CM and two senior ministers took oath on May 31. No woman lawmaker has been given a portfolio so far. There are chances that one or more women lawmakers would be inducted as adviser (s) to the CM.
Beside an independent MPA from DI Khan, there are four political parties in the coalition government. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has seven ministers, the Qaumi Watan Party and Jamaat Islami have three ministers each and the Awami Jamhoori Ittehad (AJI) has one ministry.
The portfolios of both senior ministers Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao and Sirajul Haq have already been declared. The earlier would serve as minister for irrigation, power and energy whereas the latter would look after the Finance Ministry.
The new ministers who took oath are PTI’s Shaukat Ali Yousufzai, information, culture and sports and health ministries; Yousuf Ayub Khan, communication and works ministry; Ali Amin Gandapur, revenue ministry; Shah Farman, public health engineering ministry; Mohammad Atif, education ministry; and Mehmood Khan, excise and taxation ministry.
The QWP new ministers are Bakht Baidar Khan (industries) and Malik Ibrar Hussain Khan (environment). The Jamaat-e-Islami’s Inayat Ullah Khan became the local government minister and Habibur Rehman has been given the portfolios of ushr and Zakat; and social welfare. Israrullah Khan Gandapur, who joined PTI after winning elections as an independent candidate, was given the portfolio of law and parliamentary affairs. The Agriculture Ministry has been given to the AJI’s Shehram Khan Tarakai.
Portfolios such as planning and development, information technology, higher education, women’s development and population welfare, transport, housing, livestock and fisheries, food, inter provinces coordination and archives have not been allotted so far. It is expected that some of these ministerial offices could be given to new advisors.
Sources told Pakistan Today that a number of PTI leaders were not happy for not getting ministries. They included MPs from Peshawar, Abbottabad, Kohat, Abbottabad, Nowshera and Mardan. These lawmakers could record their protest once the five advisers to the CM were inducted.