PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Saturday formally allocated portfolios to the newly inducted 13-member provincial cabinet, a day after they took oath at a ceremony held at the Governor House in Peshawar.
Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, who replaced Ali Amin Gandapur as KP’s chief executive last month, finalized his cabinet following approval from the jailed PTI founder Imran Khan, who had directed him to proceed with cabinet formation despite communication hurdles.
Since assuming office, Afridi has been denied permission four times to meet Imran Khan at Adiala Jail despite court orders. The chief minister had maintained that he wished to consult the party founder before finalizing cabinet appointments.
According to an official notification, Meena Khan Afridi has been appointed as the Minister for Local Government, Elections and Rural Development, while Arshad Ayub Khan will head the Elementary and Secondary Education department.
Fazal Shakoor has been given charge of Public Health Engineering, and Dr Amjad has been appointed Minister for Housing. Aftab Alam Afridi will oversee Law, Parliamentary Affairs and Human Rights.
Syed Fakhar Jehan has been assigned the Excise, Taxation and Narcotics Control department, while Riaz Khan will lead Irrigation. Khaleequr Rehman takes charge of Health, and Aqibullah Khan has been appointed Minister for Relief, Rehabilitation and Settlement.
Faisal Khan Tarkai has been named Minister for Labour, Muzzammil Aslam will serve as Adviser on Finance, Taj Muhammad Tarand as Adviser on Sports and Youth Affairs, and Shafiullah Jan as Special Assistant to the Chief Minister on Information.
The new 13-member cabinet is significantly smaller than Gandapur’s 33-member cabinet, which was later downsized following a reshuffle.
However, sources told that the formation contradicts the advice of Imran Khan, who had urged Afridi to limit the cabinet to between five and eight members to ensure efficiency and accountability.
According to party insiders, Imran had also cautioned against including certain figures — Aqibullah Khan (brother of former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser), Faisal Tarkai (brother of former provincial minister Shahram Tarakai), and Shakeel Khan, a former provincial minister — but all were eventually included in Afridi’s lineup.
