After completing his first day in office, Pakistan’s newly elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is likely to make cabinet decisions tonight, with speculations rife that he wants Pakistan’s Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to be the foreign minister.
Top sources told News18 that Bhutto-Zardari may not be ready to take up the cabinet berth, but the foreign minister’s post is likely to be given to one of the PPP members.
Media reports have said that PPP is divided over Bhutto-Zardari’s issue as one camp within the party wants him to join the foreign ministry, which would help him gain experience in international affairs, while others think taking any post under Sharif will undermine his status.
Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) president Rana Sanaullah is likely to become the interior minister while Marriyum Aurangzeb could be the next information and broadcasting minister, sources further said.
Khawaja Muhammad Asif, who served as Pakistan’s foreign minister in 2017, may get the post in the foreign or defence ministry.
Miftah Ismail, who served as the finance minister in 2018, is likely to be in charge of economic affairs in Sharif’s new cabinet, which could have 35-40 members. Muhammad Zubair is expected to be the federal minister of privatisation.
PML-N’s Shahid Khaqan Abbasi could get petroleum and energy division while Khawaja Saad could get Railways and Azam Nazir Tarar could be the law minister.
Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), a former ally of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) may be given information technology and ports and shipping ministries.
In short, PML-N will have the majority in the Cabinet with 12 ministers while Bhutto-Zardari’s PPP is likely to get seven ministries in which Sherry Rehman, Khursheed Shah, Naveed Qamar, Shazia Marri, Qamar Zaman Kaira could be the candidates. Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-F (JUI-F) will get four while MQM-P will be given two ministries. Balochistan National Party (Mengal), Awami National Party, Jamhoori Wattan Party and Balochistan Awami Party will get one ministry each.
PPP leader Yousuf Raza Gilani is likely to become the Senate Speaker while Shazia Murree is expected to hold the post of the Speaker of the National Assembly.
Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman is likely to become the President of Pakistan in the coming days, sources have hinted.
JUI-F has demanded either the post of the Governor of Balochistan or Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while the MQM-P wants the Governor of Sindh to be from their party. Governor of Punjab will most likely to picked from PPP.
The Dawn reported that Sharif summoned an urgent meeting of economic experts to discuss Pakistan’s current financial crisis where he was given data on the national balance sheet and fiscal deficits.
Earlier in the day, Sharif thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the wishes, and said Pakistan “desires” peaceful and cooperative ties with India.
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