Caretaker cabinet takes oath with pledge to steer country out of choppy waters
Pakistan
Sarfraz Bugti has been named as interior minister
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – The members of the caretaker cabinet of Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar on Thursday took oath of high-profile offices amid unprecedented economic and political challenges.
President Dr Arif Alvi administered oath to the cabinet members at a ceremony, which was attended by the prime minister, and other officials.
Sarfraz Bugti has been sworn in as caretaker interior minister, Aniq Ahmad religious minister, Dr Nadeem Jan health minister while Ahmed Irfan Aslam will join the cabinet as law minister.
Furthermore, Dr Shamshad Akhtar has been named interim finance minister of the country while Murtaza Solangi will hold the portfolio of information minister. Jalil Abbas Jilani will take charge as foreign minister, Umar Saif as IT minister, Shahid Ashraf Tarar as communication minister and retired Lt Gen Ali Anwar Haider has been named defence minister.
Furthermore, Muhammad Ali has been named interim minister for power and petroleum, Gohar Ejaz commerce minister, Sami Saeed planning minister while Jamal Shah will hold the office of the minister for national heritage and culture.
Madad Ali Sindhi will take up the role of federal education minister while Khalil George has been named interim human rights minister.
The premier has appointed Retired Air Marshal Farhat Hussain Malik as adviser on aviation with status of federal minister, Ahad Khan Cheema as adviser on establishment and Waqar Masood Khan as finance adviser.
Meanwhile, Arifa Zehra has been named as special assistant to PM for federal education, Iftikhar Ahmed Rao as SAPM for maritime affairs, Waris Shah for tourism, Mishal Hussain Malik for human rights and Muhammad Jawad Sohrab Malik as special assistant for overseas Pakistanis' affairs.
Earlier development
Earlier, sources said, the premier completed the consultation regarding his cabinet members, with several known names being tipped for key posts in the caretaker setup.
Shamshad Akhtar is likely to be the finance czar. Gohar Ejaz had been nominated as the commerce and industries minister and Dr Tabish as the energy minister, while Aneeq Ahmad and Dr Umar Saif were also likely to be appointed as interm ministers, sources added.
They further said other proposed names for the cabinet were Sarfraz Bugti, Muhammad Ali, Jalil Abbas Jilani and Sultan Ali Allana.
According to Dunya News, Mr Kakar has more or less finalised the names for his cabinet as both Hafeez Shaikh and Reza Baqir are not among the candidates being considered for the coveted finance minister slot.
Ex-finance minister Shaikh and former State Bank governor Baqir were in the office at the same time when the current economic crisis started surfacing which later pushed the inflation and the interest rates to the all-time high levels.
Sources said Sultan Ali Allana – a renowned banker currently serving as the Habib Bank chairman and a director at the Aga Khan Fund for Development – had been picked yesterday (Tuesday) for managing the ministry in the current turbulent period.
However, things changed when his dual nationality came to light.
Hence, two other names are now under consideration for the caretaker finance minister as the new cabinet can be announced today (Wednesday) and the oath taking to take place tomorrow. Kakar is, therefore, in the final phase of consultations to complete the process.
