ISLAMABAD – Senior member of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz, Daniyal Aziz who was appointed as state minister did not attend the oath taking ceremony at President House today (Friday).
Daniyal, who is considered a blunt spokesman of ruling PML-N was appointed ‘State Minister for Kashmir affairs’ by the recently elected premier Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.
The new federal cabinet consisting of 28 federal ministers and 19 state ministers took the oath of their office today but mysteriously Daniyal Aziz did not show up.
According to sources, Daniyal was seeking to be appointed as federal minister, and his selection as state minister irked him owing to which he did not take the oath of his office.
Prime Minister Khaqan Abbasi would chair a meeting of the recently sworn in federal cabinet in a short while.
New Federal Cabinet
As per the details, Khawaja Asif would be appointed as foreign minister, while Khurram Dastgir as defence minister.
As former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar has been left out of Abbasi’s cabinet, Ahsan Iqbal would hold interior ministry, while Ishaq Dar to continue as finance minister.
Maryam Aurangzeb, Saad Rafique and Saira Afzal Tarar would also retain the previous portfolios of information minister, railways minister and health minister respectively.
Senator Mushahidullah Khan would be the minister for climate change, while Pervaiz Malik will replace Khurram Dastgir as the new minister for commerce.
The other members, including Junaid Anwar, Jam Kamal, Abid Sher, Anusha Rehman, Dr Roshan, Usman Ibrahim, Abdul Rehman Kanjoo, Chaudhary Jaffar Iqbal, Ameenul Hasnat, Arshad Laghari, Mohsin Shahnawaz Ranjha, Rana Tanvir, Javed Ali Shah, Baligur Rehman, Hafiz Abdul Karim, Haji Akram Ansari, Dr Tari Fazal, Dosteen Khan Domki, Sardar Yousaf, Moulana Ameer Zaman, Kamran Michael, Abdul Qadir Baloch, Sikandar Bosan, Sheikh Aftab, Mumtaz tarrar, Hasil Bazenjo, Sadruddin Rashdi, Murtaza Jatoi, Salahuddi, Zahid Hamid, Barjees Tahir, Awais Laghari, Akram Durrani, Riaz Peerzada, Javed Ali Shah and Ayaz Shah Shirazi also took oath.
Following the oath-taking, the first session of the cabinet will be chaired by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.
