The cabinet is made up of 10 provincial ministers, two advisors and a special assistant.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi swore in a 13-member provincial cabinet during a ceremony at the Governor House.
The event was attended by Chief Minister Muhammad Sohail Afridi, Provincial Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati, legislators from the national and provincial assemblies, party leaders and senior officials.
In a ceremony held at the Governor House in Peshawar, ten members of the provincial cabinet were sworn in as ministers.
Among those who took oath were Mina Khan Afridi, Arshad Ayub Khan, Amjad Ali, Aftab Alam Afridi, Fazal Shakoor Khan, Khaliq-ur-Rehman, Riaz Khan, Syed Fakhr Jahan, Aqibullah Khan and Faisal Khan. The Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa congratulated the new ministers and extended his best wishes to them.
The ceremony was also attended by Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah, Inspector General of Police Zulfiqar Hameed, heads of administrative departments and several political and social figures.
In the KP cabinet, Mazammil Aslam and Taj Muhammad will act as advisors, while Shafee Jan will take up responsibilities as special assistant to the prime minister.
Read: KP cabinet consists of only 10 members as per Imran’s instructions: CM Afridi
CM Afridi on Friday formed a 13-member cabinet, comprising 10 provincial ministers, two advisors and one special assistant. The CM revealed that the cabinet will initially include 10 ministers as per instructions received from Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf founder Imran Khan.
Delay in Cabinet announcement
Afridi had declared that he would not form the government without consulting Imran, causing a delay in the formation of the cabinet.
Following the resignation of former Prime Minister Ali Amin Gandapur earlier this month, the PTI nominated Sohail Afridi as the new leader of the provincial government. Afridi was sworn in on October 15, but despite repeated speculation about potential cabinet members, no formal announcement had been made.
Also read: KP cabinet formation delayed as new CM awaits advice from party founder
According to the Constitution, there is no fixed deadline for forming a cabinet after the election of a prime minister. Under Article 132, the Prime Minister advises the Governor on ministerial appointments, while Article 133 allows the Prime Minister to temporarily manage administrative affairs in the absence of a Cabinet.
In practice, however, the lack of a cabinet had paralyzed routine government in the province. Most official affairs were handled by the bureaucracy under the supervision of the chief secretary, effectively sidelining elected representatives.
During his maiden speech in the provincial assembly, CM Afridi reaffirmed his loyalty to the PTI founder and declared, “I voted in the name of Imran Khan and will govern according to his vision.” He further stated that cabinet appointments will not be finalized until he personally consults Khan.
Also read: PTI’s Sohail Afridi elected new KP CM
During Gandapur’s rule, KP had a 32-member cabinet comprising 16 ministers, four advisors and 12 special assistants. The prolonged delay in reconstituting a new cabinet has drawn criticism from the opposition.
Opposition leader Dr Ibadullah had expressed shock at the paralysis of the government, saying: “It is shocking that an entire province is governed without a cabinet simply because a ‘prisoner’ cannot be consulted. If all instructions come through Imran Khan’s tweets, the cabinet list could also be announced in the same way. It is tragic that KP has been without a functioning government for two weeks.”
