Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Friday announced a 13-member provincial cabinet comprising 10 provincial ministers, two advisers and one special assistant, with the oath-taking ceremony scheduled to take place later today.
In a summary sent to the KP governor by the provincial government, Afridi has named Meena Khan Afridi, Arshad Ayub Khan, Amjad Ali, Aftab Alam Khan, Fazal Shakoor Khan, Khaleequr Rahman, Riaz Khan, Syed Fakhar Jehan, Aqibullah Khan and Faisal Khan as provincial ministers. Muzammil Aslam and Taj Muhammad are appointed advisers, while Shafi Jan has the designation of a special assistant.
In a post on X, KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi confirmed he had received the summary and signed it. “The oath-taking ceremony of the newly appointed provincial ministers will take place at the Governor House today at 3 p.m.,” he added.
The announcement brings to an end a deadlock between the state and Afridi, who was elected two weeks ago and had refused to form a provincial cabinet until he was granted a meeting with incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan. Despite multiple attempts, he was denied permission to meet Khan, leading to the former prime minister’s sister Uzma announcing Afridi had “complete authority” to form his cabinet.
The cabinet formation was increasingly becoming essential, as the KP government was effectively dysfunctional in its absence. Amidst the delay, several lawmakers had warned that any further dithering could invite the imposition of an emergency in the province.