33-member ‘coalition cabinet’ takes oath

Islamabad: The 33-member federal cabinet comprising members from the mainstream political parties of the country took oath on Tuesday at a swearing-in ceremony held here at the Aiwan-e-Sadr.

Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani administered oath to the cabinet members – 30 federal ministers and three state ministers, a week after he had sworn-in Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as the head of the government.

Besides PM Shehbaz Sharif, the event was attended by senior politicians including Bilawal Bhutto, former prime ministers Yousuf Raza Gilani and Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, and a large number of parliamentarians, party workers, and government officials.

The new cabinet reflected the political mix of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).

Also, one member each from Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), Jamhoori Watan Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Q joined the cabinet. Balochistan National Party stayed away from becoming part of the coalition cabinet.

The opposition alliance had led to the ouster of Prime Minister Imran Khan from his office through a majority no-confidence vote in the parliament on April 10.

On oath, the cabinet made its solemn pledge “to bear true faith and allegiance to Pakistan, discharge its duties honestly to the best of ability and faithfully in accordance with the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the law”.

“I will strive to preserve the Islamic Ideology which is the basis for the creation of Pakistan. That I will not allow my personal interest to influence my official conduct or my official decisions,” said the new ministers in chorus-reading of the text of the official oath.

The President House in a statement issued prior to the oath-taking ceremony said that President Dr Arif Alvi had given formal approval to the names of the federal and state ministers, and advisers.