Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afrid. SCREEN GRAB
PESHAWAR:
The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa cabinet was expanded on Saturday with the induction of six new ministers, four new advisers and eight special assistants, bringing the total strength of the provincial cabinet to 31 members.
With the expansion, the number of ministers, including Prime Minister Sohail Afridi, has increased to 17, while the number of advisers is six.
The expansion summary, approved by Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, was forwarded to Governor Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Faisal Karim Kundi on Friday. The governor signed and returned the summary, paving the way for the new members to be sworn in today at the Governor’s House.
The decision comes almost seven months after Sohail Afridi assumed office. Following the resignation of former Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur in October last year, Afridi was elected as the new Leader of the House. He initially formed a meager 14-member cabinet after failing to secure a meeting with the party’s founder for wider consultations. He had planned to expand the cabinet later after consultation, but the meeting could not materialize.
Party leadership and pressure from members of the provincial assembly eventually forced the chief minister to go for the expansion.
The existing cabinet included Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, Meena Khan, Arshad Ayub, Fazal Shakoor, Dr. Amjad Ali, Aftab Alam, Syed Fakhr Jehan, Riaz Khan, Khaliqur Rehman, Aqibullah Khan and Faisal Turki. Among the advisers, Taj Muhammad Turand and Mazmal Aslam were part of the team, while Shafi Jan, who had the status of special assistant, has now been elevated to the rank of provincial minister.
The six new ministers are: Nazir Ahmed Abbasi, Shakeel Ahmed, Muhammad Adnan Qadri, Muhammad Arif Ahmadzai and Tariq Mahmood Aryani.
The four new advisers include Pir Musawwar Khan, Liaquat Ali Khan, Humayun Khan and Mian Muhammad Umar.
