PESHAWAR: Ten ministers of the newly formed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cabinet were sworn in on Friday during a ceremony at the Governor House in Peshawar.
Newly elected KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, who succeeded Ali Amin Gandapur earlier this month, announced his cabinet following instructions from jailed PTI founder Imran Khan to proceed with the formation.
Since his election as CM, Afridi has been denied permission four times to meet the PTI founder in Adiala Jail, despite the court’s directives. CM Afridi had maintained that he wanted to meet the party founder to seek his guidance for the cabinet formation.
KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi administered the oath to Mina Khan, Fazal Shakoor, Faisal Turkai, Aaqibullah, Arshad Ayub Khan, Aftab Alam, Dr Amjad, Khaliq-ur-Rehman, Riaz Khan, and Syed Fakhar Jehan. They all have taken an oath as ministers and their portfolios will be announced in due course.
Muzammil Aslam and Taj Muhammad Tarand have been appointed as advisers to the provincial chief executive, while Shafeeullah Jan has been made a special assistant. Their portfolios will also be announced later.
It is pertinent to mention that the new KP cabinet is considerably smaller compared to Gandapur’s cabinet, which once had 33 members and was later reduced following a reshuffle.
Afridi replaced firebrand Gandapur as the chief minister after securing 90 votes during a session boycotted by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, and Pakistan Peoples Party on October 13.
Soon after taking office, CM Afridi announced plans to meet Khan to discuss policy guidelines and the formation of his cabinet.
PTI leaders — including CM Afridi — had approached the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to ensure his meeting with the PTI founder for the same.
While the IHC directed prison authorities to allow such meetings, CM Afridi was unable to meet Khan when he arrived outside the Adiala jail on October 23.
Following the denial, he staged a short sit-in outside the prison, demanding the implementation of the court’s directives, though without success.
It is worth mentioning here that Khan has been behind bars since August 2023, following his conviction in the Toshakhana case-I — one of the multiple cases registered against him since his ouster from power via a no-confidence vote in April 2022.
The PTI founder is facing a plethora of cases, ranging from corruption to terrorism
