Cabinet formation: PM meets Zardari, others

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited Zardari House on Tuesday and held a meeting with Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari, and discussed appointment of cabinet’s members, it is learnt.

PPP leader Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and PML-N leaders Ayaz Sadiq, Rana Sanaullah, Saad Rafique, and Marriyum Aurangzeb were also present. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reached the Parliament Lodges and met leadership of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) to redress their reservations.

In the lodges, the prime minister held meeting with the MQM-P convener, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, at his residence and exchanged views on the prevailing political situation and government formation.

Senior MQM-P leader Waseem Akhtar had earlier expressed reservations over Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s skipping to mention the agreement reached with the MQM-P in his maiden address to the National Assembly on Monday soon after his election.

MQM-P leaders including Aminul Haq, Waseem Akhtar, Javed Hanif were also present in the meeting, besides by Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui.

Shehbaz meets Zardari, Bilawal

Talking to the MQM-P leaders, the prime minister said that he appreciated the MQM-P’s active support for formation and running of the government.

The prime minister was accompanied by Rana Sanaullah, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Ayaz Sadiq, and Marriyum Aurangzeb.

After Shehbaz Sharif was sworn in as the 23rd prime minister of Pakistan, the next move of the coalition is to appoint ministers.

According to sources, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would finalise the members of the federal cabinet within the next two days.

The sources said that Rana Sanaullah is likely to be given the portfolio of interior minister, while Marriyum Aurangzeb is expected to be appointed information minister. They said that Bilawal could be the next foreign minister, while former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf is likely to be given the office of the speaker National Assembly.

The sources said that the PML-N will have a majority in the cabinet with 12 ministers. The PPP will have seven, and the JUI-F will be given four ministries. Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) will have two ministers and Awami National Party (ANP), Jamhoori Wattan Party (JWP), and Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) one each.

The sources said that PML-N’s Khawaja Asif, Saad Rafique, Khurram Dastgir, Ahsan Iqbal, Marriyum Aurangzeb, Shaista Pervaiz Malik, Rana Sanaullah, and Murtaza Javed are likely to join the cabinet.

They said that independent candidates, Mohsin Dawar and Aslam Bhootani and PML-Q’s Tariq Bashir Cheema are also likely to be included in the cabinet.

The sources said that the name of Azam Nazir Tarar is under consideration for the Leader of the House in the Senate. The PPP will be given a ministry to either Sherry Rehman or Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar from the Senate.

The JUI-F has demanded to make the governor of Balochistan or Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from their party, while the governor of Punjab will be from the PPP and the governor of Sindh from MQM-P.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022