14-member Balochistan cabinet takes oath

• Cabinet formed 2 months after lawmakers took oath as MPAs.
• CM Bugti took oath 1.5 months ago, but cabinet formation was delayed.
• Cabinet members include Sadiq Umrani, Ali Madad Jattak, others.

The cabinet has been sworn in about two months after the elected representatives to the provincial assembly took oath as members and more than one-and-a-half months after the province's chief minister was elected.

Those who took the oath include Sadiq Umrani, Ali Madad Jattak, Zahoor Buledi, Noor Muhammad Dumar, Sardar Faisal Jamali, Sarfraz Domki, Abdul Rehman Khetran, Saleem Khosa, Asim Kurd Gello, Bakht Kakar, Tariq Magsi, Shoaib Nosherwani, Raheel Durrani and Zia Langau.

Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Sarfaraz Bugti took oath of office on March 2, but it took him a while to form a cabinet and start running provincial affairs smoothly.

The province's chief executive had announced on March 22 that two more weeks were required to form the cabinet. Provincial lawmakers earlier linked the delay in the formation of cabinet with the Senate's April 2 elections.

Following their win the general elections, a total of 57 lawmakers in the province were administered oath by Zamrak Khan Achakzai, who was appointed the presiding officer for the maiden session of the provincial legislative on February 28.

Members who took oath included the elected lawmakers from Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl, Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) and others.

Bugti, who was elected for the coveted CM post unopposed, took oath of office on March 2, facing hydra-headed challenges as the province remains badly impacted by terrorism.