Shibli Faraz says cabinet reshuffle expected next week

PTI leader Senator Shibli Faraz said Sunday Prime Minister Imran Khan is expected to reshuffle portfolios in the federal cabinet later this week. 

The PTI leader, speaking on Geo News talk show "Naya Pakistan", said he had no information about whether he would be included in the cabinet or not, however, he believes Fawad Chaudhry would be an effective information minister.

Earlier, sources had informed Geo News that PM Imran Khan had decided to reappoint Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry as information minister.

Chaudhry had first assumed the role of information minister in 2018, after which, in 2019, Firdous Ashiq Awan was appointed, and following her dismissal, Senator Shibli Faraz was given the charge. Now, again, Chaudhry has been appointed.

Since coming to power in 2018, PM Imran Khan has reshuffled his cabinet five times. More than half the PM’s cabinet has had its portfolio changed at least once.

The first major hiring and firing in the country’s top decision-making body, the cabinet, took place in April 2019.

If the prime minister does go ahead with a major reshuffle, it would be the sixth since the PTI government came into power three years ago.

In December 2020, during the last reshuffle, PM Imran Khan changed the portfolios of cabinet members and appointed Sheikh Rasheed as the interior minister.