Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afrid. SCREEN CAPTURE
PESHAWAR:
The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa cabinet was expanded on Saturday with the addition of six new ministers, four new advisors and eight special assistants, taking the total strength of the provincial cabinet to 31 members.
With the expansion, the number of ministers, including Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, has increased to 17, while the number of advisors is six.
The summary of the expansion, approved by Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, was submitted to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi on Friday. The Governor signed and returned the summary, clearing the way for the new members to be sworn in today at the Governor’s House.
The decision comes almost seven months after Sohail Afridi took office. Following the resignation of former Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur in October last year, Afridi was elected the new leader of the house. He initially formed a slim 14-member cabinet after failing to secure a meeting with the party’s founding president for broader consultations. He had planned to expand the cabinet later after a consultation, but the meeting could not happen.
The party leadership and pressure from members of the Provincial Assembly finally forced the Chief Minister to opt for expansion.
The existing cabinet included Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, Meena Khan, Arshad Ayub, Fazal Shakoor, Dr Amjad Ali, Aftab Alam, Syed Fakhr Jehan, Riaz Khan, Khaliqur Rehman, Aqibullah Khan and Faisal Turki. Among the advisors, Taj Muhammad Turand and Mazmal Aslam were part of the team, while Shafi Jan, who had the status of special assistant, has now been elevated to the rank of provincial minister.
The six new ministers are: Nazir Ahmed Abbasi, Shakeel Ahmed, Muhammad Adnan Qadri, Muhammad Arif Ahmadzai and Tariq Mahmood Aryani.
The four new advisors include Pir Musawwar Khan, Liaquat Ali Khan, Humayun Khan and Mian Muhammad Umar.
