Nawaz directs Shehbaz to announce cabinet at earliest

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is set to finalise the federal cabinet in the next 24 hours. The PMLN leadership has decided to once again request Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) to join the cabinet.

PMLN Quaid Nawaz Sharif on Saturday chaired a meeting which was attended by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif besides other leaders. It was decided in the meeting that PPP should be approached again with the request to join the federal cabinet.

Shehbaz Sharif told the meeting, which was held prior to the presidential election, he would talk to Zardari after his election as the president.

The sources said that prime minister, during his brief meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari at the Zardari House, repeated his party’s request to him that the PPP should also join the cabinet. Shehbaz Sharif, accompanied by Senator Ishaq Dar and Attaullah Tarar, visited the Zardari House to personally greet the newly-elected President.

Earlier, Nawaz Sharif directed Shehbaz Sharif to announce the cabinet at the earliest and start implementing the party’s manifesto which seeks to overcome economic challenges and provide relief to the people.

Currently, the people’s expectations from the PMLN are high, the PMLN supremo told the participants, adding the new government, however, had to face huge challenges.

“Reducing inflation is also inevitable,” sources said, quoting Nawaz.

Lamenting the challenges faced by the new government such as soaring inflation, Nawaz said: “Prime minister, you should form the cabinet soon and start implementing the [party’s] manifesto.”

Talking informally to newsmen later, PMLN leader Attaullah Tarar said the prime minister was likely to finalize his cabinet in the next 24 hours.

Tarar, who is likely to be given the portfolio of Minister for Information and Broadcasting, said that all the matters with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) had been settled. The sources said that around 15 cabinet members would be announced in the first phase.