PESHAWAR: A 15-member cabinet of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa took oath on Wednesday. The oath-taking ceremony was held at the Governor House, where Governor KP Haji Ghulam Ali administered the oath. The KP Chief Minister, Ali Amin Gandapur, witnessed the ceremony.
Several prominent and experienced lawmakers from the previous cabinet, including Arshad Ayub, Shakil Ahmad, Fazal Shakoor, and Khaleeq Ur Rehman, were reappointed. Moreover, many members from the previous assembly secured ministries including Muhammad Zahir Shah, Fazal Hakeem, Pakhtoon Yar Khan, Aqib Ullah Khan, Nazeer Ahmed Abbasi, and Shakeel Ahmad Khan.
Apart from that, new faces entering the assembly for the first time were also included in the cabinet including Meena Khan, Faisal Khan Tarakai, Muhammad Sajjad, Muhammad Adnan Qadri, and Aftab Alam Khan Afridi.
Moreover, the appointment of five advisors, including Syed Fakhar Jahan, Muzamil Aslam, Mashal Azam, and Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, highlights a concerted effort to leverage diverse expertise and perspectives in governance.
Arshad Ayub, an experienced member, is the brother of former provincial minister and current MPA Akbar Ayub, while Aaqibullah is the brother of former National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser. While Faisal Khan Tarakai is the younger brother of PTI senior leader and former provincial minister Shahram Khan Tarakai.
Most of the cabinet members remained loyal to the party despite facing difficulties after May 9.
Interestingly, the most senior parliamentarian of PTI, Mushtaq Ghani, has not been included in the newly elected cabinet of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Mushtaq Ghani served as the Provincial Minister for Information and Higher Education in the PTI government in 2013 and was the Speaker of the Provincial Assembly in the second term from 2018 to January 2023.
