Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s new nine-member caretaker cabinet comprising nine ministers took oath on Saturday.
Governor Ghulam Ali administered the oath to new ministers in a ceremony held at the Governor House. The ceremony was attended by KP caretaker Chief Minister Mohammad Azam Khan and others.
The ministers who sworn in were Dr Najeebullah, Dr Mohammad Qasim Jan, Syed Masud Shah, Barrister Feroze Jamal Shah Kakakhel, retired Justice Irshad Qaiser, Ahmad Rasool Bangash, Asif Rafiq, retired Justice Arshad Hussain Shah and Syed Aamir Abdullah.
Today’s oath-taking ceremony comes a day after the governor accepted a summary regarding the new cabinet appointment sent to him by CM Khan.
On Aug 10, 19 members of the previous caretaker cabinet tendered their resignations to the CM over their purported involvement in politics. The other six members stepped down the next day.
The CM demanded their resignations over a cup of tea and they complied with direction instantly.
Reportedly, at least two cabinet members ‘resisted’ the CM’s directives to quit insisting they were neither involved in politics nor did they held any political gatherings.
The exodus came after caretaker minister Shahid Khattak resigned on July 24 citing personal commitments as the reason. Earlier, he addressed a public meeting organised by the Awami National Party.
The minister’s presence at a political gathering evoked a strong response from the Election Commission of Pakistan on July 23. He stepped down a day later.
BRIEF PROFILE OF CABINET MEMBERS
Masud Shah, Mr Kakakhel, retired Justice Qaiser and Dr Anwar were part of the last caretaker cabinet as well.
Retired Justice Qaiser, belonging to the Hazara division, is the former chief judge of the Gilgit- Baltistan Supreme Appellate Court, who held that office from 2019 to 2022. He has also worked in capacity of the deputy attorney general for Pakistan. Mohammad Qasim Jan is an educationist.
Dr Najeebullah, a PhD from the University of Cambridge (Department of Material Science) is the founding director of the US-Pakistan Centre for Advanced Studies in Energy.
He has also been serving as the project director of the University of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Swat, and working as a consultant with the UNDP and developed a 10-year energy plan for the erstwhile Fata.
He also served previously as a consultant and country expert with Tufts University Boston on the “Chinese overseas investment in renewable energy projects through the Belt and Road Initiative.”
Currently, Dr Najeebullah was working as a member (Science, Technology and ICT) at the Planning Commission of Pakistan and looks after the development portfolio of science and technology, information technology and higher education ministries.
