New ministers get portfolios, Pervez Khattak made PM’s aide on interior affairs

In a major development, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday allotted portfolios to new faces recently inducted into his cabinet.

Besides allotting portfolios to four new special assistants, the premier also reassigned the ministries of some of the cabinet members.

Setting aside tall claims of austerity drive and cut in government’s expenditure, the premier last week inducted new members into his team including 12 federal ministers, 9 state ministers, three advisers and four special assistants, while two state ministers were elevated to post of the federal minister.

According to a notification issued by the Cabinet Division today, federal minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry has been given the portfolio of Parliamentary Affairs, while Ali Pervaiz Malik and Shaza Fatima Khawaja made the federal ministers of Petroleum and Information Technology, respectively.

Portfolios assigned to other federal ministers are:

• Hanif Abbasi — Railways
• Moeen Watto — Water Resources
• Mustafa Kamal — National Health Services, Regulations & Coordination
• Sardar Yousuf —  Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony), Aurangzeb Katchi (National Heritage & Culture
• Rana Mubashir —  Public Affairs Unit
• Raza Hayat Hiraj —  Defence Production
• Junaid Anwar — Maritime Affairs
• Khalid Magsi — Science & Technology

Similarly, state ministers Barrister Aqeel Malik, Bilal Azhar Kayani and Talal Chaudhry have been given portfolios of Law & Justice, Railways and Interior & Narcotics Control, respectively.

New state ministers:

• Malik Rasheed Ahmad Khan — National Food Security & research
• Abdul Rehman Khan Kanju — Power with additional portfolio of Public Affairs Unit
• Aqeel Malik — Law & Justice
• Bilal Azhar Kayani — Railways
• Kesoo Mal Kheal Das — Religious Affairs & Interfaith Harmony
• Mohammad Awn Saqlain — Overseas Pakistanis & Human Resource Development
• Mukhtar Ahmad Malik — National Health Services, Regulations & Coordination
• Talal Chaudhry — Interior & Narcotics Control
• Wajiha Qamar — Federal Education & Professional Training

Interestingly, Pervez Khattak — once a close aide of incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan and former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister — has been appointed as Adviser to Prime Minister on Interior affairs.

In addition to this, two more advisers — Syed Tauqir Hussain Shah and Muhammad Ali — were also added to the cabinet, increasing the number of advisers to the prime minister to seven.

Special Assistants to the Prime Minister (SAPMs) include Haroon Akhtar, who has been given the portfolio of Industries and Production; Huzaifa Rehman, National Heritage and Culture; Mubarak Zeb, Tribal Affairs; and Talha Burki, Political Affairs.

It is pertinent to mention here that President Asif Ali Zardari administered the oath to the new federal cabinet members in the ceremony attended by PM Shehbaz, Senate Chairman Yusuf Raza Gilani and senior officials.