ISLAMABAD: Two more federal ministers and as many ministers of state took the oath of their office on Thursday, bringing the strength of the federal cabinet to the maximum limit of 47.

President Mamnoon Hussain administered the oath to the new ministers in the presence of Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.

Daniyal Aziz from Narowal and Mumtaz Ahmed Tarar from Mandi Bahauddin were sworn in as federal ministers while Syed Ayaz Ali Sherazi from Thatta and Mir Dostain Khan Domki from Balochistan took the oath as ministers of state.

Mr Aziz has been appointed minister of privatisation and Mr Tarar minister for human rights. Mr Domki has been made minister of state for water resources and Mr Sherazi minister of state for agriculture.

Expansion takes strength of cabinet to its maximum limit of 47

The size of the new cabinet is now bigger than the last one which had three dozen members.

According to the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, the size of the federal cabinet should not be more than 11 per cent of the total strength of the National Assembly (340) and the Senate (104) which means that the maximum number of cabinet members should be 47. Now the new prime minister has no chance for expanding his cabinet.

It has been learnt that Mr Aziz did not attend the first oath-taking ceremony held at the Presidency on Aug 4 after he refused to hold the office of minister of state for Kashmir Affairs. On that day 43 members were included in the federal cabinet, but 39 took the oath of their office.

Following is the final list of cabinet members.

Federal ministers: Ishaq Dar (Minister of Finance), Kamran Michael (Minorities), Pervaiz Malik (Commerce), Hafiz Abdul Karim (Communication), Khurram Dastagir (Defence), Syed Javed Ali Shah (Water Resources), Rana Tanveer Hussain (Defence Production), Daniyal Aziz (Privatisation), Khwaja Muhammad Asif (Foreign Affairs), Akram Khan Durrani (Housing & Works), Ghulam Murtaza Jatoi (Industries and Production), Riaz Hussain Pirzada (Inter-Provincial Coordination), Ahsan Iqbal (Interior), retired Lt Gen Salahuddin Tirimzi (Narcotics Control), Muhammad Birjees Tahir (Kashmir Affairs & Gilgit-Baltistan), Zahid Hamid (Law and Justice), Mushahidullah Khan (Climate Change), Mumtaz Ahmed Tarar (Human Rights), Syed Sadaruddin Shah Rashidi (Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development), Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo (Ports and Shipping), Khwaja Saad Rafiq (Railways), Sardar Muhammad Yousuf (Religious Affairs), retired Lt Gen Abdul Qadir Baloch (States and Frontier Regions), Saira Afzal Tarar (National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination), Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan (Agriculture), Sheikh Aftaz Ahmed (Parliamentary Affairs), Muhammad Balighur Rehman (Education) and Maulana Zameer Zaman (Postal Service).

Ministers of state: Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry (Capital Administration and Development Division), Haji Muhammad Akram Ansari (Commerce and Textile) Muhammad Junaid Anwaar Chaudhry (Communications), Sardar Muhammad Arshad Khan (Industries and Production), Marriyum Aurangzeb (Information and Broadcasting), Anusha Rahman Ahmad Khan (Information Technology and Telecommunications), Dr Darshan (Inter-Provincial Coordination), Abdul Rehman Khan Kanju (Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development), Jam Kamal Khan (Petroleum), Chaudhry Jaffar Iqbal (Ports and Shipping), Pir Muhammad Aminul Hasnat Shah (Religious Affairs and Inter-Faith Harmony), Ghalib Khan (States and Frontier Regions), Abid Sher Ali (Power), Mohsin Shahnawaz Ranjha (Law), Syed Ayaz Ali Shah Sherazi (Agriculture) and Dostain Khan Domki (Water Resources).

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2017