PM Shehbaz Sharif to finalise cabinet tonight: sources

• Sources say PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah is likely to become interior minister.
• Marriyum Aurangzeb may get information ministry.
• Sources add PM Shehbaz will announce names of cabinet members tonight.

ISLAMABAD: After Shehbaz Sharif was sworn in as the 23rd prime minister of Pakistan, the next move of the joint Opposition is to appoint ministers.

According to sources, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will finalise the members of the federal cabinet today and also announce the names tonight.

They further told Geo News that PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah is likely to be given the portfolio of an interior minister, while Marriyum Aurangzeb is expected to be appointed the information minister.

Read more: Shehbaz Sharif raises minimum wage of govt employees to Rs25,000

Last week, during a joint Opposition meeting, former president and PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari also addressed Rana Sanaullah as the interior minister.

Earlier, sources had revealed that the PML-N will have the majority in the cabinet with 12 ministers. The PPP will have seven, and the JUI-F will be given four ministries. Meanwhile, MQM-P will have two, and ANP, JWP and BAP one each.

PML-N's Khawaja Asif, Saad Rafique, Khurram Dastgir, Ahsan Iqbal, Marriyum Aurangzeb, Shaista Pervaiz Malik, Rana Sanaullah and Murtaza Javed are likely to join the cabinet.

Independent candidates Mohsin Dawar and Aslam Bhootani and PML-Q’s Tariq Bashir Cheema are also likely to be included in the cabinet.

Read more: Syed Tauqir posted as PM Shehbaz's secretary

The name of Azam Nazir Tarar is under consideration for the Leader of the House in the Senate. The PPP will give the ministry to either Sherry Rehman or Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar from the Senate.

Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari could be the next foreign minister, while Shazia Marri's name is also under consideration for a cabinet slot.

During an interview last week, the PPP chairperson said that the party will decide his role in the new government.

The JUI-F has demanded to make the governor of Balochistan or Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from their party, while the governor of Punjab will be from PPP and the governor of Sindh from MQM-P.