Former chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Akram Khan Durrani will become part of the federal cabinet representing the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) next week after the first expansion in the cabinet. It is likely that seven ministers or ministers of state, and an adviser to the Prime Minister would be included in the federal cabinet.
Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada member of the National Assembly of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) from Bahawalpur, who couldn’t turn up at the oath taking ceremony of the first batch of the federal ministers last week, will also take the oath.
Former federal minister for commerce Senator Abbas Khan Afridi who leads the group of federally administered tribal areas (FATA) senators will be given a slot in the federal cabinet. Dr. Tariq Fazal Chaudhary (PML-N) and Sajid Hussain Turi (FATA) will be included as ministers of state (MOS) in the federal cabinet. Well placed sources told local media on Tuesday evening that Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif is consulting the provincial chiefs of the PML-N and allied parties for expansion in the federal cabinet and appointment of new governors in three provinces.
The process for the election of the new President of the country will be underway from next month. The prime minister has made up his mind to take the next head of the state from a smaller province. The brainstorming for picking a suitable candidate for the exalted office has begun.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has told his political aides that the new president of the country must not be an active politician but he should be quasi-political person who must enjoy esteem in the society.
The decision pertaining to the new ministers, governors and president would be finalized after further consultations with the fellow political colleagues by the prime minister, the sources added.