Imran takes oath as PM, picks 21-strong cabinet
ISLAMABAD: An upbeat Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan on Saturday formally assumed the office of the country’s chief executive following an impressive oath-taking ceremony at President House which was attended by a number of dignitaries, including senior PTI members, parliamentarians, services chiefs, diplomats and celebrities.
Clad in a traditional black sherwani, a visibly blushing Imran Khan later reviewed the guard of honour accorded to him at the Prime Minister’s House.
Stars of the ceremony in which President Mamnoon Hussain administered the oath to Mr Khan were Indian cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu and the first lady Bushra Bibi, who was seen sitting in the front row wearing a white abaya (veil) carrying a rosary in her hand. It was her first appearance at a gathering after her marriage with the PTI chief earlier this year.
The first lady received greetings from some of the guests after her arrival at President House, but later she was seen reciting something with her eyes closed.
Mr Khan faced some difficulty in reading out his oath because of some difficult Urdu words and at one stage smilingly said “sorry” when he uttered the word Qayadat (leadership) instead of Qayamat (the day of judgement). And before start of the oath, Mr Khan made everyone curious — as well as amused — when he began to look for his spectacles in a pocket of the shirt that he was wearing under his sherwani.
Three women among 16 ministers, five advisers; opposition stays away from swearing-in ceremony
No one from the opposition parties attended the ceremony despite the fact that invitations had been extended to a number of party leaders and heads, including PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif and PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.
Prominent among those who attended the oath-taking ceremony were caretaker prime minister Nasirul Mulk, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, former PTI secretary general Jahangir Tareen, Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, Jamhoori Watan Party chief Shahzain Bugti, Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan, Navy Chief Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi, actor Javed Sheikh, singers Salman Ahmed and Abrar-ul-Haq and ex-cricketers Wasim Akram, Rameez Raja, Inzamamul Haq, Javed Miandad and Waqar Younus.
According to a tweet by PTI’s official account, the ceremony’s menu of nine dishes was reduced to refreshments only on Mr Khan’s request as part of his “austerity drive”.
Talking to Dawn, PTI spokesman Fawad Chaudhry said PM Khan would address the nation on Sunday (today) in which he would present the future roadmap of his government as well as thank people for reposing confidence in the PTI. Responding to a question, he said Mr Khan was residing in a house at the PM’s Staff Colony.
Later, the PM Office announced the names of 21 cabinet members including many old faces. A number of them had either served in the cabinet during the military rule of Gen Pervez Musharraf or had had association with him in the past.
Of the 16 ministers, seven belong to the coalition parties whose support Mr Khan had secured to win the prime minister’s election with 176 votes. The new cabinet members — 16 federal ministers and five advisers — are expected to take the oath at President House on Monday.
According to the official announcement made by the PM Office, PTI’s vice chairman Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi has been nominated as the country’s new foreign minister, a position where he had previously served during the last PPP government between 2008-13 under the then president Asif Zardari and former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. Mr Qureshi had resigned from the cabinet after developing differences with the party leadership during a reshuffle in the cabinet.
Mr Qureshi had also once served as provincial finance minister in the cabinet of Nawaz Sharif when he was the chief minister of the Punjab during the military rule of Gen Ziaul Haq.