CM Afridi succumbs to party pressure; six new ministers, four advisers and eight special assistants were sworn in today
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi. SCREEN GRAB
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. This exceeds the constitutional cap set in Article 130 of the Constitution, which limits the number of ministers to 15 and advisers to five.
Official sources said that two ministers and an adviser will have to be dropped to comply with the constitutional provision.
Read more: KP governor administers oath to 13-member provincial cabinet
The expansion outline, approved by CM Afridi, was forwarded to provincial governor 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 CM 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 he failed to secure a meeting with the party’s founding chairman 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 CM 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.
The eight new special assistants are: Tariq Saeed, Muhammad Usman, Tufail Anjum, Iftikharullah Jan, Samiullah Khan, Malik Adeel Iqbal, Muhammad Khurshid and Muhammad Asrar.
The significant expansion is seen as an attempt to accommodate various factions and allies within the ruling party and to accommodate demands from MPAs who felt left out of the initial small cabinet.
Political observers note that while the move strengthens the chief minister’s support base in the assembly, it also raises questions about financial implications and compliance with constitutional norms.
The development comes at a time when the provincial government is navigating several challenges, including financial constraints and governance issues. The larger cabinet is expected to distribute responsibilities more broadly, although critics argue it could increase the financial burden on the provincial tax base.
