KP’s interim cabinet takes oath

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s new 12-member interim cabinet took oath on Saturday at a ceremony held at Governor House in Peshawar.

The cabinet, comprising nine provincial ministers, two advisors, and one special assistant sworn in by KP Governor Haji Ghulam Ali.

According to details, KP Governor Haji Ghulam Ali administered the oath to the new cabinet members. KP caretaker Chief Minister Azam Khan, IGP and other officials also present on the occasion. The ministers included Syed Masud Shah, Barrister Feroze Jamal Shah Kakakhel, retired Justice Irshad Qaiser, Ahmad Rasool Bangash, Asif Rafiq, Dr Najeebullah, Dr Mohammad Qasim Jan, retired Justice Arshad Hussain Shah and Syed Aamir Abdullah.

Dr Riaz Anwar and Dr Sarfaraz Ali Shah will be advisers to the CM, while Zafarullah Khan will be a special assistant.

The oath-taking ceremony took place a day after the governor approved a summary regarding the appointment of a new caretaker cabinet sent to him by CM Azam Khan.

On August 10 last, 19 members of the previous caretaker cabinet had tendered their resignations to the chief minister for their reported involvement in politics. The other six members stepped down the next day.

CM Azam Khan had asked them to hand over their resignations. Masud Shah, Kakakhel, former Justice Qaiser and Dr Anwar were part of the last caretaker cabinet as well.

Former Justice Qaiser, belonging to the Hazara division, is the former chief judge of the Gilgit-Baltistan Supreme Appellate Court, who held that office from 2019 to 2022. He has also worked in the capacity of the deputy attorney general for Pakistan. Mohammad Qasim Jan is an educationist.

Dr Najeebullah, a PhD from the University of Cambridge (Department of Material Science) is the founding director of the US-Pakistan Centre for Advanced Studies in Energy.

He has also been serving as the project director of the University of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Swat, and working as a consultant with the UNDP and developed a 10-year energy plan for the erstwhile Fata.

He also served previously as a consultant and country expert with Tufts University Boston on the “Chinese overseas investment in renewable energy projects through the Belt and Road Initiative.”

Currently, Dr Najeebullah was working as a Member (Science, Technology and ICT) at the Planning Commission of Pakistan and looks after the development portfolio of science and technology, information technology and higher education ministries.

The new cabinet is a response to the challenges posed by the previous caretaker administration’s perceived political involvement.

Former interim ministers appointed after the KP Assembly was dissolved in protest in January 2023 on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief’s instructions, resigned jointly on August 10 on the call of interim CM Khan.

The previous caretaker cabinet comprised 26 members, including ministers, advisers and special assistants.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023