New federal ministers sworn in, three ministers miss oath due to traffic jam in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD- (Rizwan Abbasi)- A swearing-in ceremony for new federal ministers was held at Aiwan-e-Sadr, where President Asif Ali Zardari administered the oath, here on Thursday.

As per the details, Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif and other federal ministers attended the oath taking ceremony.

With the addition of 13 federal ministers and 11 ministers of state and three advisers, the total strength of the federal cabinet has reached 46.

The newly sworn-in federal ministers include Hanif Abbasi, Moeen Watto, Mustafa Kamal, Sardar Yousuf, Ali Pervaiz, Shaza Fatima, Junaid Anwar, Khalid Magsi, Pir Imran Shah, Aurangzeb Katchi, Rana Mubashir, and Raza Hayat Hiraj.

According to sources, the three nominated ministers could not reach the ceremony on time and take the oath due to being stuck in traffic.

Imran Shah was to take the oath as a federal minister, while Shazra Mansab and Armaghan Subhani were to take the oath as ministers of state, but they could not attend the ceremony. Sources say that more changes are expected in the cabinet in the coming days, while the official announcement of the portfolios of the ministers will be made soon.

The ministers of state sworn in were Malik Rasheed, Armaghan Subhani, Talal Chaudhry, Kheal Das, Rehman Kanju, Bilal Kayani, Mukhtar Bharat, Shizra Mansab, Anwar Chaudhry, and Wajiha Qamar.

Additionally, Prime Minister’s advisers Tauqeer Shah, Pervez Khattak, and Muhammad Ali also took the oath.