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Who are the members of PM Sharif’s new cabinet?

Newly elected Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari inspects the honor guard at the Presidential Palace in Islamabad, Pakistan on March 11, 2024. (Press Information Department (PID)/REUTERS)
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Updated 12 March 2024
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Who are the members of PM Sharif’s new cabinet?

  • Federal cabinet comprises Sharif family loyalists, veteran politicians and former ministers 
  • Shaza Fatima Khawaja only women in cabinet, HBL CEO set to become finance minister 
Updated 12 March 2024
Shahjahan Khurram

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif picked a 19-member federal cabinet on Monday comprising loyalists of the Sharif family, veteran politicians, former ministers and only one woman:

Senator Ishaq Dar

Dar, tipped to take over as foreign minister, is a four-time finance minister and last served in that position in Sharif’s previous government from September 2022 till August 2023. The senator is one of the closest aides of the Sharif family and his son is married to the daughter of Sharif’s elder brother, Nawaz Sharif. 

During Dar’s previous tenure as finance minister, Pakistan’s rupee weakened significantly against the US dollar and the country’s reserves shrunk to unprecedented lows before Islamabad secured a last-gasp bailout deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and was saved from debt default. 

Khawaja Muhammad Asif

A veteran politician from Sialkot, Asif is one of the most senior members of Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party and last served as defense minister from April 2022 till August 2023. He is expected to get the defense portfolio again. 

In the past, Asif has also served as Pakistan’s minister of water and power, petroleum, sports as well foreign affairs and also chaired the privatization commission from 1997-99. 

Asif began his political career after getting elected to the Senate of Pakistan in 1991. He was a member of the National Assembly from 1993 to 1999 and again from 2002 to 2018 and till date.

Azam Nazeer Tarar

A leading Supreme Court lawyer and close Sharif aide, Azam last served as law minister from April 2022 to August 2023 and is expected to take over the portfolio again. He was elected to Pakistan’s Senate in 2021 and will serve as a member of the upper house of parliament till 2027. 

Muhammad Aurangzeb

The chief executive officer of Pakistan’s largest bank, HBL, Aurangzeb is the top choice for finance minister whose top priority will be negotiating a new bailout deal with the IMF and controlling inflation. 

Ahsan Iqbal 

Iqbal, a key Sharif family aide and longtime PML-N member, served as planning minister during Sharif’s previous stint as prime minister. He was also the federal minister for interior from August 2017 till May 2018 when Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was the prime minister. 

Dr. Musadik Masood Malik 

Malik served as petroleum minister during the last Sharif government and has previously also served as a special assistant to the prime minister on water and power. During his stint as petroleum minister last year, Pakistan procured crude oil from Russia for the first timee.

Ataullah Tarar 

Ataullah is the PML-N’s deputy secretary-general and previously served as the prime minister’s special assistant on interior during Sharifz’s stint as prime minister. He has also served as a former home minister of Pakistan’s most populous and political important Punjab province. He is expected to be given charge of Pakistan’s information ministry. 

Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi

The current chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), media mogul Naqvi was caretaker chief minister of Pakistan’s most populous Punjab province from January 2023 to February 2024. He is the owner of the City News Network media house and is believed to be close to President Asif Ali Zardari and army chief Gen Asim Munir. 

Naqvi is tipped to head Pakistan’s powerful and prominent interior ministry, which tackles security challenges and often becomes embroiled in cracking down on the political opponents of incumbent governments. 

Dr. Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui

Siddiqui leads the Karachi-based Muttahida Quami Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) political party and served as federal minister for information technology from 2018 to 2020 in former prime minister Imran Khan’s cabinet. 

Abdul Aleem Khan 

A real estate tycoon and owner of the prominent Pakistani TV channel Samaa, Aleem was once a close aide of ex-PM Khan but became a key rival and launched his own Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) comprising many of Khan’s closest past associates. 

Rana Tanveer Hussain 

A vice president of the PML-N party, Hussain has served as federal minister for education, defense production and science and technology.

Chaudhry Salik Hussain 

The son of veteran politician and former Pakistani prime minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Salik is a former federal minister who headed the Board of Investments and Special Initiatives during the last Sharif cabinet. 

Shaza Fatima Khawaja 

The only woman member of the new cabinet, Shaza is a niece of former defense minister Khawaja Asif and previously served as special assistant to the prime minister on youth affairs. She has also taught International Relations and Political Science at the prestigeous Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). 

Jam Kamal Khan 

Khan served as the 16th chief minister of Balochistan from 2018 to 2021. A former leader of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), Jam joined the PML-N in November 2023. 

Amir Muqam 

A senior leader of the PML-N from Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, Muqam served as adviser to the prime minister on political and public affairs in the last Sharif cabinet. 

Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari 

Leghari is a former lawmaker who served as a member of Pakistan’s National Assembly from 2002-07, 2011-13 and 2013-18. His father, Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari, was Pakistan’s president from 1993-97. 

Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh 

A businessman-turned-politician, Sheikh is a veteran leader of the PML-N party. 

Ahad Khan Cheema 

A former civil servant and senior bureaucrat, Cheema served as a member of the last Sharif cabinet as an adviser on establishment. In 2018, he was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau in an inquiry related to the Ashiana-i-Iqbal Housing Scheme. 

Riaz Hussain Pirzada

Another PML-N leader, Pirzada has previously served as human rights minister and minister for inter-provincial coordination.

Topics: cabinet members federal cabinet

Iranian FM arrives in Pakistan to discuss Middle East situation, bilateral ties

Updated 10 sec ago
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Iranian FM arrives in Pakistan to discuss Middle East situation, bilateral ties

  • Seyed Abbas Araghchi’s visit takes place amid surging regional tensions between Israel and Iran
  • Islamabad, Tehran have had a rocky relationship despite agreements on trade, energy and security 
Updated 10 sec ago
Shahjahan Khurram

ISLAMABAD: Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi has arrived in Islamabad on a two-day official visit to hold consultations with the Pakistani leadership on the evolving Middle East situation and discuss bilateral ties with Pakistan, state-run media reported on Tuesday. 

Araghchi was welcomed by Pakistan’s Additional Foreign Secretary (Afghanistan and West Asia) Ambassador Ahmed Naseem Warraich upon his arrival in Islamabad, a foreign office press release said. 

Araghchi’s Islamabad visit takes place after last month’s escalation in hostilities between Iran and Israel, with both countries firing missiles at each other. Israel carried out strikes against Iran on Oct. 26, saying it was responding to missile attacks conducted by Tehran earlier in the month.

Since the deadliest attack in its history on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel has been fighting Hamas in Gaza and since late September, it has been at war with Hezbollah in Lebanon. Both Hezbollah and Hamas are allies of Iran. Pakistan, a major ally of Saudi Arabia, shares a long border with Iran.

“Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi arrived here late Monday night on a two-day official visit to hold consultations with Pakistan’s leadership on the situation in the Middle East and bilateral relations,” state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported. 

The APP said Araghchi will meet Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar during his two-day visit. 

“This visit provides an important opportunity to advance cooperation and dialogue between Pakistan and Iran on a wide range of areas including trade, energy and security,” APP said. 
Pakistan and Iran have had a rocky relationship despite several commercial pacts between the two countries on trade, energy and security. Both countries signed the $7 billion Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project agreement in 2004 but 20 years on, the project remains incomplete. Tehran has completed the pipeline’s construction on its side of the border while Pakistan is seeking a US waiver to go ahead with it due to international sanctions targeting Tehran. 
Pakistan and Iran are also often at odds over instability on their shared porous border, with both countries routinely trading blame for not rooting out militancy.
Tensions surged in January when Pakistan and Iran exchanged airstrikes, both claiming to target alleged militant hideouts in each other’s countries. Late Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi visited Pakistan in April on a three-day visit aimed at strengthening bilateral relations and easing tensions. The two sides also signed memorandums of understanding in the fields of trade, science technology, agriculture, health, culture, and judicial matters. 

Topics: Pakistan Iran Ties Iran Seyed Abbas Araghchi

Pakistan reports fresh polio case from Balochistan, taking 2024 tally to 46

Updated 10 min 23 sec ago
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Pakistan reports fresh polio case from Balochistan, taking 2024 tally to 46

  • Poliovirus detected in male child from Killa Saifullah district, says polio eradication program
  • Pakistan’s immunization campaigns suffer from misinformation campaigns and militant attacks
Updated 10 min 23 sec ago
NAIMAT KHAN

KARACHI: Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province has detected a fresh poliovirus case in a male child, the country’s polio eradication program said on Tuesday, taking the total number of cases reported this year to 46 as Islamabad struggles to clamp down on the infection. 

The National Institute of Health’s (NIH) laboratory confirmed detecting the virus in a male child from Killa Saifullah district in Balochistan, the program said. 

“This is the second polio case from Killa Saifullah, where several environmental samples have tested positive for WPV1,” the Pakistan Polio Eradication Program said. “So far, 23 cases have been reported from Balochistan province, 12 from Sindh province, nine from KP and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.”

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries where polio remains endemic. Since late 2018, Pakistan has seen a resurgence of cases and increased spread of poliovirus, highlighting the fragility of gains achieved in the preceding years when cases dropped in 2023 to six, from 20 in 2022 and just one in 2022. Misinformation about vaccinations and attacks by militants on polio teams have been major impediments to immunization campaigns.

At least seven people, including five school students, were killed and 23 injured in a blast in southwestern Pakistan that targeted a polio vaccination team vehicle on Friday, police said. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Last Tuesday, a policeman was killed in an attack on a health office that manages door-to-door polio vaccination campaigns.

The attacks have coincided with Pakistan’s third nationwide polio campaign this year, launched last week with the aim to administer vaccine drops to more than 45 million children.

Pakistani Prime Minister’s Focal Person for Polio Eradication, Ayesha Raza Farooq, has said that the government is revamping its polio eradication program to make the country free of the virus by mid next year.

“WPV1 has been detected in 76 districts, indicating widespread circulation of the virus and a continued serious risk to children’s well-being from a disease that can paralyze them for life,” the polio eradication program said. 
“Multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five is essential to keep them protected.”

Topics: Polio poliovirus Balochistan

Pakistan PM says policy rate reduction to enhance business activities, boost employment

Updated 15 min 51 sec ago
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Pakistan PM says policy rate reduction to enhance business activities, boost employment

  • Pakistan’s central bank slashed key policy rate by 250 basis points to 15 percent on Monday 
  • With fourth straight reduction since June, Islamabad aims to revive sluggish economy 
Updated 15 min 51 sec ago
Shahjahan Khurram

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has welcomed the central bank’s decision to cut the policy rate by 250 basis points, saying the move would help boost the country’s business activities and enhance employment opportunities, state-run media reported on Tuesday.

Pakistan’s central bank slashed its key policy rate by 250 basis points to 15 percent on Monday for a fourth straight reduction since June. The development takes place as Islamabad attempts to revive a sluggish, fragile $350 billion economy as inflation eases. 

Monday’s move follows cuts of 150 bps in June, 100 bps in July, and 200 in September that have taken the rate from an all-time high of 22 percent, set in June 2023 and left unchanged for a year. It takes the total cuts to 700 bps in under five months.

“Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif says the reduction in policy rate will enhance business activities, exports and employment opportunities in the country,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported. 

Sharif was chairing a meeting of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) parliamentary party on Monday when he touched upon the central bank’s move. The premier noted that inflation has reduced from an alarming 38 percent in May 2023 to 7 percent at present.

The Pakistani premier informed members of the PML-N parliamentary party about his visit to Saudi Arabia and Qatar last week, saying that “a new chapter” has been added to the Pakistan-Saudi investment partnership. 

“The Saudi leadership assured all kinds of support for the stability and development of Pakistan’s economy,” Sharif said according to the state broadcaster. 

The Pakistani prime minister also informed the lawmakers about his visit to Qatar, saying that the Qatari leadership also assured an increase in investment for Pakistan. He said talks were held between both sides on giving “a practical shape” to projects worth $3 billion in Pakistan. 

“He said Qatar will invest in various sectors including aviation, hoteling, information technology and energy sectors in Pakistan,” the state broadcaster said. “Shehbaz Sharif said the government is taking steps on a priority basis to facilitate investment and increase foreign investment in Pakistan.”

Topics: Pakistan Policy Rate

Pakistan parliament approves bills to extend tenure of services chiefs to five years

Updated 04 November 2024
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Pakistan parliament approves bills to extend tenure of services chiefs to five years

  • Extension in services of army, navy and air force chiefs follows controversial amendments to the constitution last month
  • The opposition PTI party condemns the amendments for changing Pakistan “from a democracy into a monarchy”
Updated 04 November 2024
SAIMA SHABBIR

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s National Assembly and Senate on Monday approved bills to extend the tenure of the army, navy, and air force chiefs from three to five years, amid protests by the opposition benches. 

The office of the army chief is considered to be the most powerful in the country, with the army having ruled Pakistan for almost half of its 75-year history. Even when not directly in power, the army is considered to be the invisible guiding hand in politics and holds considerable sway in internal security, foreign policy, and economic affairs, among other domains. 

Six bills were passed by the upper and lower houses on Monday evening, including one to increase the term of the services chiefs.

“In the said Act, in section 8A, in sub-section (1), for the expression “three (03)” the word “five (05)” shall be substituted,” read the bill, seeking to amend the Pakistan Army Act, 1952.

Similar bills were passed to increase the duration of the country’s naval and air force chiefs to five years also. 

“The purpose of these amendments are to make consistent the Pakistan Army Act, 1952 (XXXIX of 1952) The Pakistan Navy Ordinance, 1961 (Ordinance No. XXXV of 1961) and The Pakistan Air Force Act, 1953 (VI of 1953) with the maximum tenure of the Chief of the Army Staff, the Chief of the Naval Staff and the Chief of the Air Staff and to make consequential amendments for uniformity in the aforementioned laws.” 

Speaking outside parliament, the chairman of the opposition PTI party, Gohar Ali Khan, said:

“Today, democracy has been changed into a monarchy.”

Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Omar Ayub Khan, said “modifying the service chiefs’ tenure is not a good thing for the country and the armed forces.”

The passage of the new bills follows controversial amendments made to the constitution last month, granting lawmakers the authority to nominate the chief justice of Pakistan, who previously used to be automatically appointed according to the principle of seniority.

The amendments allowed the government to bypass the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, and appoint Justice Yahya Afridi as the country’s top judge, replacing former chief justice Qazi Faez Isa. 

The opposition and the legal fraternity had opposed the amendments, arguing that they were aimed at granting more power to the executive in making judicial appointments and curtailing the independence of the judiciary. The government denies this.

Topics: national assembly bill Pakistan

Pakistani forces kill six militants in shootouts near border with Afghanistan — military

Updated 04 November 2024
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Pakistani forces kill six militants in shootouts near border with Afghanistan — military

  • Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan, has witnessed a number of attacks recently
  • Pakistan blames the surge in militancy on militants operating out of Afghanistan, Kabul denies the allegations
Updated 04 November 2024
KASHIF IMRAN

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces have killed six militants in two separate engagements in the country’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, the Pakistani military said on Monday.
A militant was killed in an exchange of fire during an intelligence-based operation in North Waziristan’s Dosali area, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing.
In the second incident, Pakistani forces intercepted a group of militants while infiltrating the country’s border with Afghanistan in the South Waziristan district. Five militants were killed as a result.
“Pakistan has consistently been asking Interim Afghan Government to ensure effective border management on their side of the border,” the ISPR said in a statement.
“Interim Afghan Government is expected to fulfil its obligations and deny the use of Afghan soil by Khwarij [militants] for perpetuating acts of terrorism against Pakistan.”
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which borders Afghanistan, has witnessed a number of attacks by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militant groups that targeted security forces convoys and check posts, besides targeted killings and kidnappings of law enforcers and government officials in recent months.
Pakistan has frequently accused neighboring Afghanistan of sheltering and supporting militant groups, urging the Taliban administration in Kabul to prevent its territory from being used by armed factions to launch cross-border attacks.
Afghan officials, however, deny involvement, insisting Pakistan’s security issues are an internal matter of Islamabad.
 

Topics: Pakistan Army Arab News Pakistan

Latest updates

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Pakistan reports fresh polio case from Balochistan, taking 2024 tally to 46
Pakistan PM says policy rate reduction to enhance business activities, boost employment
Israel issues 7,000 new draft orders for ultra-Orthodox members

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