The cabinet includes 10 provincial ministers, two advisers and a special assistant
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi administered the oath to a 13-member provincial cabinet during a ceremony at the Governor House.
Chief Minister Muhammad Sohail Afridi, Provincial Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati, legislators from both the National and Provincial Assemblies, party leaders and senior officials attended the event.
At a ceremony held at the Governor’s House in Peshawar, ten members of the provincial cabinet were sworn in as ministers.
Those who were sworn in included Mina Khan Afridi, Arshad Ayub Khan, Amjad Ali, Aftab Alam Afridi, Fazal Shakoor Khan, Khaliq-ur-Rehman, Riaz Khan, Syed Fakhr Jahan, Aqibullah Khan and Faisal Khan. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor congratulated the new ministers and expressed his best wishes to them.
The ceremony was also attended by Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah, Superintendent of Police Zulfiqar Hameed, heads of administrative departments and various political and social figures.
In KP’s cabinet, Masammil Aslam and Taj Muhammad will act as advisers, while Shafee Jan will shoulder the responsibility as special assistant to the chief minister.
Read: KP’s cabinet consists of only 10 members as per Imran’s directions: CM Afridi
CM Afridi on Friday formed a 13-member cabinet comprising 10 provincial ministers, two advisers and a special assistant. The CM revealed that the cabinet will initially include 10 ministers as per the instructions received from Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf founder Imran Khan.
Delay in government announcement
Afridi had stated that he would not form a government without consulting Imran, causing a delay in the formation of the cabinet.
Following the resignation of former Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur earlier this month, the PTI nominated Sohail Afridi as the new head of the provincial government. Afridi was sworn in on 15 October, but despite repeated speculation about potential cabinet members, no formal announcement had been made.
Read also: KP cabinet formation delays as new CM awaits party founder’s advice
According to the constitution, there is no fixed deadline for forming a cabinet after the election of a chief minister. Under Article 132, the Prime Minister advises the Governor on ministerial appointments, while Article 133 allows the Prime Minister to temporarily manage administrative affairs in the absence of a Cabinet.
In practice, however, the lack of a cabinet had paralyzed routine governance in the province. Most official affairs were handled by the bureaucracy under the supervision of the Chief Secretary, effectively sidelining elected representatives.
During his maiden speech in the provincial assembly, CM Afridi reaffirmed his loyalty to the PTI founder and declared, “I took votes in the name of Imran Khan and I will rule according to his vision.” He further stated that no cabinet appointments will be finalized until he personally consults Khan.
Read also: PTI’s Sohail Afridi elected new KP CM
During Gandapur’s tenure, KP had a 32-member cabinet comprising 16 ministers, four advisers and 12 special assistants. The long delay in reconstituting a new cabinet has drawn criticism from the opposition.
Opposition leader Dr. Ibadullah had expressed astonishment at the government’s paralysis, saying: “It is shocking that an entire province is being run without a cabinet simply because a ‘prisoner’ cannot be consulted. If all instructions come through Imran Khan’s tweets, the cabinet list can also be announced in the same way. It has been tragic that the government has been without an operation for two weeks.”
