ISLAMABAD: The caretaker federal cabinet continued to expand as Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar on Tuesday inducted former bureaucrat Fawad Hasan Fawad, a confidant of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, into the interim cabinet, taking the total number of its members to 26.

The appointment was made by President Dr Arif Alvi on the advice of the caretaker premier under Article 224 (1a) of the Constitution, according to an official press release.

Earlier on Saturday, Dr Kausar Abdullah Malik was appointed as the caretaker federal minister. President Alvi administered the oath of office to Dr Malik on Monday.

At present the federal cabinet comprises 26 members, including 18 ministers, three advisers and five special assistants to the prime minister.

Media reports had earlier suggested that PM Kakar had decided to form a small cabinet and personally review the profiles of all possible candidates.

When contacted, Infor­mation Minister Murtaza Solangi insisted that the caretaker cabinet was still “not very big”.

“Is this [cabinet] continuing to expand unconstitutionally/illegally? How big do you think the caretaker government should be legally/constitutionally? We have 17 ministers and with Fawad Hasan Fawad, it will be 18 now,” he said.

Mr Fawad has served as principal secretary to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. He had faced NAB investigation for several years in an alleged white-collar crime case.

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2023