Pak PM Shehbaz Sharif’s Cabinet takes oath after several days of delay

Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ’s 34-member Cabinet - a mix of experience and fresh blood - was sworn in on Tuesday after several days of delay, with Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani administering the oath to new ministers after President Arif Alvi once again excused himself from the ceremony.

The ceremony was scheduled to be held on Monday, but President Alvi refused to administer the oath t o t h e lawmakers, comp e l l i n g the government to postpone it. T h e Cabinet includes 31 ministers and three ministers of the state and its first meeting has been summoned in the evening by Prime Minister Sharif.

The new Cabinet is a mix of experience and fresh blood cobbled up together after stiff tradeoffs behind the closeddoor meetings of the coalition partners of Sharif, also president of the Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N). His PML-N got 13 ministries and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) got nine.

Four ministries were over to Jamiat Ulema-e-IslamFazl (JUI-F) and two to Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P). Other coalition partners including Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) and Jamhori Watan Party (JWP) got one ministry each. Out of the three ministers of the state, two belong to PML-N and one to PPP. Three special advisors with the status of a minister have also been nominated. (PTI)