Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s federal cabinet nearly doubled in size on Thursday, going from a total strength of 25 members to 51, with the induction of federal ministers, ministers of state, advisers and special assistants to the P.M.
According to notifications issued by the Cabinet Division, the prime minister has inducted 12 new federal ministers; nine new ministers of state; three new advisers and four special assistants.
Among the federal ministers who took oath of office are Shaza Fatima Khawaja and Ali Pervaiz Malik, both of whom had previously held the status of ministers of state. Following their appointment as federal ministers, they have ceased to hold the office of ministers of state.
The Cabinet Division notification states that Tariq Fazal Chaudhary, Ali Pervaiz Malik, Aurangzeb Khan Khichi, Khalid Hussain Magsi, Muhammad Hanif Abbasi, Muhammad Mueen Wattoo, Muhammad Junaid Anwar, Muhammad Raza Hayat Hiraj, Sardar Muhammad Yousaf, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Rana Mubashar Iqbal and Syed Mustafa Kamal had been inducted as federal ministers.
Additionally, Barrister Aqeel Malik, Malik Rasheed Ahmad Khan, Abdul Rehman Khan Kanju, Bilal Azhar Kayani, Kesoo Mal Kheal Das, Mohammad Awn Saqlain, Mukhtar Ahmad Malik, Talal Chaudhry and Wajiha Qamar were inducted as ministers of state.
The prime minister has further added Tauqir Hussain Shah, Muhammad Ali and Pervez Khattak as advisers to the prime minister, joining Rana Sanaullah and raising the total strength of advisers to four. The four individuals appointed as special assistants to the prime minister are Haroon Akhtar, Huzaifa Rehman, Mubarak Zeb and Talha Burki. Fahd Haroon, Muhammad Ali, Muhammad Sadiq, and Syed Tariq Fatemi are already serving as special assistants.
President Asif Ali Zardari administered the oath of office to the new inductees. Three new entrants—federal minister Imran Shah and ministers of state Shezra Mansab Ali Khan and Chaudhry Armaghan Subhani—could not reach the venue on time, however.
While the majority of the new inductees are members of the ruling PMLN, they also include some surprises such as Pervez Khattak, a former leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.
The new entrants have yet to be assigned portfolios.
The dramatic increase to the size of the federal cabinet flies in the face of the government’s austerity claims, but is nothing new for Pakistan. Former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani had similarly increased the size of his cabinet to 40 members, while the PTI government had once claimed 86 members of the federal cabinet, comprising 34 federal ministers, seven ministers of state, 10 advisers and 35 SAPMs.