PESHAWAR: Certain members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cabinet are likely to be reshuffled and removed from their positions in an upcoming expansion expected next week, reliable sources told The News.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has already approved the expansion of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cabinet with the induction of two provincial ministers from the merged districts and new advisors and special assistants to the chief minister.
In the existing 17-member cabinet, 13 are provincial ministers, three advisors and one special assistant to the chief minister.
Chief Minister Mahmood Khan holds about 17 portfolios including Home, Administration, Excise and Taxation, Social Welfare, Population, Prisons, Religious Affairs, Ushr, Zakat and others.
The sources said that an unelected advisor to chief minister for the merged tribal districts is likely to be asked to resign from his office to accommodate newly-elected members from the tribal districts in the cabinet.
They said that a member of ruling party from Bajaur district would be inducted as provincial minister while another lawmaker who was elected in independent capacity and later joined the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) would also be made a cabinet member.
The sources said the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), an ally of the PTI in the centre and Balochistan, may also be given one seat in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cabinet. The party has four MPAs, who joined it after winning seats in the merged districts in the July 20 election for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly. Giving representation to the BAP in the provincial cabinet may cause heart-burning among the PTI lawmakers.
It is believed that a woman MPA, elected on women’s reserved seats, and a minority MPA belonging to the ruling party would join the provincial cabinet.
The sources informed The News that the portfolios of certain incumbent provincial ministers and advisors are likely to be changed and reshuffled in the coming days.
It is said that important ministries like health and education would be headed by new ministers. The new ministers and advisors being appointed would be given the portfolios of Excise and Taxation, Social Welfare and Women Development, Ushr and Zakat, Minority Affairs and Prison department.
The sources also confirmed that some of the ruling party MPAs from the districts having no representation in the cabinet would be accommodated. Upper and Lower Dir, Mansehra, Dera Ismail Khan, Buner, Bannu, Battagram and Kohistan districts presently have no representation in the provincial cabinet.
