Most KP caretaker ministers related to politicians

PESHAWAR: The caretaker cabinet of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is dominated by political ministers.

The majority of the ministers are friends and relatives of leaders of various political parties. Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, Awami National Party, Pakistan Peoples Party, Muslim League-N and Qaumi Watan Party, and other political parties have already accepted their share in the caretaker cabinet. The cabinet members are scrambling to save the ministries after the Election Commission’s letter.

The caretaker’s cabinet includes Syed Masood Shah, Hamid Shah, Advocate Sawal Nazir, Abdul Haleem Qasuriya, Hai Fazal Elahi, Shafiullah Khan, Haji Muhammad Ghufran, Taj Muhammad Afridi, Manzoor Khan Afridi, Muhammad Ali Shah, Ashraf Dawar, Bakht Nawaz, Barrister Feroze Jamal Kakakhel and former Justice (retd) Irshad Qaiser while three ministers Khushdil Khan, Adnan Jalil, and Shahid Khattak have already resigned or removed from the cabinet. Similarly, the advisors include Himayat Ullah Khan, Syed Jarrar Hussain Bukhari, Zafar Mehmood, and Rehmat Salam Khattak.

Minister Syed Masood Shah has served as Inspector General of Police Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He does not belong to any political party but he is the relative of the chief minister. Hamid Shah has been a member of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly from the Bannu district and belongs to JUI. Sawal Nazir Advocate is the youngest lawyer in the Supreme Court and belongs to the Bannu district. He is the relative of the former chief minister and JUI leader Akram Khan Durrani. However, the incumbent minister Sawal Nazir says that he does not belong to any political party and his name was forwarded by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council.

Similarly, Abdul Haleem Kasuriya belongs to Dera Ismail Khan District, he had been a member of the provincial assembly on a PML-N ticket in 1997, but he says that he is not associated with any political party since long. Another minister Haji Fazal-E- Elahi is a well-known industrialist and has been a part of the caretaker government in 2018 as well. He says that he never received any salary in previous or present caretaker governments. Similarly, Minister Shafiullah Khan is the cousin of the Pakistan Peoples Party’s former provincial president Najmuddin Khan.

Former Senator Haji Ghufran belongs to the Qaumi Watan Party and is the father-in-law of the former member of the provincial assembly Sardar Shamoon. Sardar Shamoon is the son of former governor Sardar Mehtab. Taj Muhammad Afridi is the brother of well-known billionaire industrialist and MNA Alhaj Shahji Gul Afridi and uncle of Bilawal Afridi, former parliamentary leader of Balochistan Awami Party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly.

Another billionaire Manzoor Afridi is a central leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam. Muhammad Ali Shah belongs to Muslim League-N Swat and he has also been District Nazim from Swat. Another minister Ashraf Dawar from South Waziristan belongs to ANP. Bakht Nawaz belongs to Batragram district, and his father Alamzeb Khan had been the provincial minister of JUI.

Barrister Feroze Jamal Kakakhel is the son of former federal minister Mian Jamal Shah and he participated in the National Assembly election in 2018 on the ticket of the People’s Party. Mrs Irshad Qaiser is a former judge of the Peshawar High Court and was a member of the Election Commission of Pakistan from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Matiullah has recently been promoted to minister in the provincial cabinet, he belongs to ANP.

Adviser to the Chief Minister, Himyat Ullah has been an adviser during the Tehreek-e-Insaaf government and has also been appointed as an adviser in the caretaker cabinet. Advisor Syed Jarrar Hussain Bukhari is the son of People’s Party central leader Nayyer Bukhari. Similarly, advisor Zafar Mahmood from Hazara belongs to Pakistan Muslim League-N. Another advisor Rehmat Salam Khattak belongs to JUI, he remained the district Nazim of District Karak from the PML N and he also contested the National Assembly elections.

Special Assistant to CM, Dr Riaz has been the physician of a JUI leader, but he has no affiliation with any political party. Salma Begum is the sister of ANP’s former senator Sitara Ayaz who became a part of the BAP party, Pir Haroon Shah is a senior journalist but does not belong to any political party. Malik Mehr Elahi, a Peshawar-based businessman, is a close associate of Governor Ghulam Ali. Shiraz Akram Bacha of Swabi is a relative of a political leader of PML but he does not belong to any political party. Hidayatullah Afridi is the brother of the former provincial minister of PPP Ziaullah Afridi.