ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNA from Nankana Sahib, Ijaz Ahmad Shah has been appointed as federal minister for parliamentary affairs.
Prime Minister Imran Khan had earlier approved a summary for appointing Shah as a member of his cabinet.
Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry confirmed that the appointment was approved by President Dr Arif Alvi on the recommendation of PM Imran.
Shah will perform his duties as Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, said the information minister.
Shah had also been a trusted aide of former military strongman General (r) Pervez Musharraf. He also served as director general of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) from 2004 to 2008, and was accused of using the IB for political victimisation.
The late Benazir Bhutto had named him in a letter as someone who should be investigated if she was assassinated. She suspected him to be conspiring to eliminate her, but he was never implicated in her assassination case.
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Spokesperson Nafeesa Shah has expressed the party’s reservations over Shah’s appointment.
“Shaheed Benazir Bhutto’s suspected murderer has been appointed as a minister by Imran Khan,” Nafeesa said soon after the appointment was announced.
“Benazir had named him as [one of] her killers in an email. She had said that if she was assassinated, Shah should be investigated for it. After Shah’s addition [to the federal cabinet], there is no difference between Pervez Musharraf and Imran Khan’s cabinet,” Nafeesa said.
She added, “Shah played an important role in political engineering during Musharraf’s time.”
