After Imran Khan's approval, KP cabinet to take oath of office today

• Decision came after Khan's meeting with KP CM Gandapur.
• KP CM directs relevant authorities to arrange oath ceremony.
• Majority of chosen cabinet members were unaware of their selection.

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cabinet is set to take its oath of office today as Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur receives a nod of approval from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan during their meeting in Adiala jail, Rawalpindi, The News reported on Wednesday.

In a statement, Gandapur said he discussed the formation of the KP cabinet with Khan during the meeting held a day earlier.

"Cabinet members will take oath today," he said.

Following his meeting with Khan on Tuesday, Gandapur returned to Peshawar and directed relevant authorities to arrange the oath-taking ceremony for incoming cabinet members at the Governor's House. 

The names of the proposed cabinet members, however, have not yet been shared by the KP chief minister.

Interestingly, a majority of those considered and approved as cabinet members by the PTI founder were unaware of their selection. The News learnt from sources that KP CM Gandapur did not disclose the names of his cabinet members, as he was under pressure by certain factions within the party to accommodate their nominees.

"A summary has been moved and arrangements have been made for their oath-taking ceremony on Wednesday," a source, privy to the developments about the cabinet formation, told The News on the condition of anonymity.

There were several names in circulation for some time and most of them were hopeful to be considered for the provincial cabinet. A list of the proposed cabinet members was unofficially shared with the media but senior PTI neither confirmed nor rejected them.

Some of them, off the record, confirmed most names in the list when it was shared with them. Former finance and health minister Taimur Khan Jhagra is expected to lead the provincial government's financial team.

Similarly, the list included the names of Aqibullah Khan, younger brother of former NA speaker Asad Qaiser; Faisal Khan Tarakai, younger brother of former provincial minister Shahram Khan Tarakai from Swabi; former provincial minister Shakeel Khan, Shafiullah Khan and Liaqat Ali Khan, from the Malakand and Dir districts; Meena Khan Afridi and Qasim Ali Shah from Peshawar; Khaliqur Rahman and Mian Omar from Nowshera; Dr Amjad Ali Khan from Swat; Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani from Abbottabad; Shafi Jan from Kohat; Akbar Ayub from Haripur; Zahir Shah Toru from Mardan; and Riaz Khan from the Buner district.

Anwar Zaib Khan from Bajaur and Adnan Qadri from Khyber tribal district were also slated to have been approved for the cabinet.

"Some of the cabinet members and their portfolios have been approved but I can’t mention them," a PTI leader claimed.

Pleading anonymity, he added that every PTI MPA in the provincial assembly expected to be included in the cabinet, which he said, was not possible.

Meanwhile, some senior PTI leaders, who were elected to the National Assembly from KP, were of the view that since the majority of the people were selected for the cabinet on recommendations of influential party leaders, it would create embarrassment for the PTI founding chairman as well as Gandapur to deliver, as most of them never held important positions.

"I thought Khan Sahib (Imran Khan) would have learnt from the past mistakes and would select people for the cabinet on merit but it didn’t happen. Almost all cabinet members have been selected on the recommendations of influential party leaders," one PTI MNA from Peshawar opined.