Interim Pakistan PM Kakar’s 19-member Cabinet takes oath

A 19-member Cabinet of Pakistan’s newly appointed caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar took oath on Thursday to run the cash-strapped nation till the overall elections and guarantee a seamless transition of energy.

President Arif Alvi administered an oath to the caretaker Cabinet at Aiwan-e-Sadr, the presidential home.

According to an official assertion, 16 federal ministers and three advisers are a part of the Cabinet.

Former international secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani has been appointed as Foreign Minister, Sarfaraz Bugti as Interior Minister, Shamshad Akhtar as Finance Minister, Lt Gen (retired) Anwar Ali Haider as Defence Minister and senior journalist Murtaza Solangi as Information Minister.

Khalil George took the oath as Minister for Minorities, industrialist Gohar Ijaz as Minister for Industries, educational Dr Umar Saif as Minister for Information Technology, Ahmad Irfan Aslam as Law Minister, famend actor Jamal Shah as Minister for Culture Aniq Ahmad as Religious Affairs Minister.

Akhtar is the one lady within the Cabinet.

The oath-taking ceremony started with the recitation of the Holy Quran on the President’s House in Islamabad.

The ceremony was attended by Kakar, Punjab interim Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi and others.

The swearing-in of Cabinet ministers accomplished the method of presidency formation within the nation, which is going through its worst financial disaster.

Under the Constitution, a caretaker authorities must be appointed to supply a impartial administration for holding the elections in a good and clear method.

Pakistan’s National Assembly was dissolved on August 9, ending the tenure of the federal government led by Shehbaz Sharif and paving the way in which for putting in a caretaker setup.

The normal elections in Pakistan are anticipated to be held inside 90 days.

But the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday determined to conduct a contemporary delimitation of the constituencies, making it virtually sure that normal elections will not be held inside the stipulated interval of 90 days.

Earlier this month, the Council of Common Interests (CCI) accepted the outcomes of the 2023 digital census, making it obligatory for the ECP to conduct contemporary delimitation — a course of that can take practically 4 months.

According to a schedule issued by the ECP, the electoral watchdog will full the delimitation train by mid-December.

Pakistan is presently within the throes of an financial disaster.

The Pakistan authorities and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reached a long-awaited staff-level settlement on June 29 to inject a USD 3 billion Standby Arrangement (SBA) into the ailing economic system after months-long negotiations that pushed the nation to the brink of default.

Published On:

Aug 18, 2023