Following consultation with PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has finalised names for federal cabinet, with Ishaq Dar dropping out of race to become finance minister.
Ishaq Dar, a close Sharif family’s associate and four-time finance minister, will be handed over the portfolio of foreign minister.
However, the ruling party is yet to finalise its finance minister, the person who has to lead an immediate effort to negotiate a new International Monetary Fund bailout.
According to sources, renowned banker Muhammad Aurangzeb Khan and Shamshad Akhtar are likely to become the advisers to prime minister on finance and revenue.
Akhtar has been a key part of the recent caretaker government that has been praised by the IMF for “decisive policy efforts” to maintain stability.
Furthermore, sources claimed that Khawaja Muhammad Asif will retain the charge of defence ministry. Ahsan Iqbal is in line for planning minister, Ataullah Tarar for information minister, Musadik Malik for energy ministry.
Meanwhile, Jalil Abbas Jilani and Tariq Fatemi will become adviser and special assistant on foreign affairs, respectively. Former Punjab chief minister Mohsin Naqvi will be appointed as adviser on interior ministry.
According to reports, Pakistan People’s Party, a key ally in the coalition government, had expressed opposition to appointment of Ishaq Dar as the finance minister.
Meanwhile, Nawaz Sharif has directed his younger brother Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to keep the federal cabinet small in the initial phase as discussions on its composition were underwayon Saturday.
Sources told that the PML-N leadership, comprising Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif, engaged in a crucial meeting to review the party’s interactions with various allies and considered the names of potential cabinet members.
During the meeting, PM Shehbaz Sharif tabled the proposed names for the federal cabinet. Sources quoting Nawaz Sharif said that the PML-N supremo called for keeping the cabinet small in the initial phase.
Allied parties’ leaders Abdul Aleem Khan, Tariq Bashir Cheema and Salik Hussain (PML-Q) are likely to be sworn in as the federal ministers in the first phase.
BAP’s Khalid Magsi is also likely to get a ministry in the federal government. PM Shehbaz Sharif’s new cabinet will be sworn in after the oath of Asif Ali Zardari as president of Pakistan, the sources said.
The huddle also deliberated over the induction of PPP’s members in the upcoming federal cabinet. PM Shehbaz told the meeting that he would talk to Zardari after his election as the president.
“Will request Asif Ali Zardari after he is elected president,” sources said, quoting the PM.
