Pakistan Prime Minister Abbasi's new cabinet takes oath of office

Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi

Islamabad: The new cabinet of Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was sworn in at the Presidency here on Friday.

According to reports, the cabinet consists of 46 members, but only 44 members took the oath of office administered by President Mamnoon Hussain.

The cabinet consists of 28 federal and 18 state ministers.

Abbasi on Thursday had six-hour-long consultations with disqualified Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif in Murree, Dawn online reported.

Khawaja Muhammad Asif, the Defence Minister in the Sharif-led government, will be the new Foreign Minister, and Ahsan Iqbal, former Minister for Planning, will take charge of the Interior Ministry.

The country was without a full-time Foreign Minister since the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) came to power in 2013. The last full-time Foreign Minister was Hina Rabbani Khar, who served in the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government.

Senior party leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Interior Minister in Sharif`s cabinet, has refused to be part of the new government formed on August 1.

Ishaq Dar will continue as Finance Minister whereas Pervez Malik will be the new Minister for Commerce. Malik replaces Khurram Dastagir Khan, who will take charge of the Defence Ministry.

Daniyal Aziz from Narowal, Talal Chaudhry from Faisalabad, Arshad Leghari from Rahim Yar Khan and Junaid Anwar Chaudhry from Toba Tek Singh are among the new faces in Abbasi`s cabinet.

Marriyum Aurangzeb, the Information Minister; Zahid Hamid, the Law Minister; and Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, in charge of the Capital Administration and Development Division, will retain their previous portfolios.

PML-N`s information secretary Mushahidullah Khan was appointed as the Minister of Climate Change.

The party had from the past few days been deliberating over the composition of the new cabinet and the upcoming National Assembly bypoll for the seat vacated by Sharif.

The federal cabinet was dissolved after Sharif stepped down following a landmark Supreme Court ruling on the Panama Papers case.

The court in its July 28 verdict disqualified Sharif from holding the post of Prime Minister.