PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s new caretaker cabinet with nine ministers, two advisers and a special assistant to the chief minister took oath on Saturday.

Governor Ghulam Ali administered the oath during a ceremony held at the Governor’s House. Caretaker Chief Minister Mohammad Azam Khan was also present.

Barrister Feroze Jamal Shah Kakakhel, Justice retired Irshad Qaisar, Justice retired Arshad Hussain Shah, Syed Aamir Abdullah, Dr Najeebullah, Dr Mohammad Qsim Jan, Asif Rasool, Ahmad Rasool Bangash and Syed Masud Shah took oath as caretaker ministers.

Dr Riaz Anwar and Dr Sarfaraz Ali Shah were notified as advisers, and Zafrullah Khan will be working as special assistant to the caretaker chief minister.

On Friday, Azam Khan had picked his new cabinet members. The summary for approval of the cabinet members was sent to Governor Ghulam Ali, who assented to it in the evening.

The new cabinet was formed after members of the last one had tendered their resignations on August 10. The chief minister had asked them to resign over their purported involvement in politics.

The resignations came after the Election Commission of Pakistan had written a letter to the caretaker CM on July 31, stating that his government was bound by Article 218 (3) of the Constitution to conduct elections in a free, fair, transparent and impartial manner.

The ECP had asked Mr Khan to sack all his cabinet members, who were involved in politics.

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2023