ISLAMABAD, Dec 17: A 15-member Azad Kashmir cabinet was sworn in here on Wednesday. Azad Kashmir President Raja Zulqarnain Khan administered the oath of office to the ministers at the Kashmir House.

AJK Prime Minster Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan administered oath to three advisers.

Three ministers, including Chaudhry Tariq Farooq, a close aide of the prime minister, abstained from ceremony. Others who refused to take oath were Sardar Muhammad Naseer Khan and Chaudhry Sadiq Batli.

The prime minister while addressing a press conference after the oath taking ceremony maintained that mid-term reshuffle of the cabinet had become due and he would shortly induct two to four more ministers.

He said his doors were open to the ‘forward bloc’ members and they could rejoin the cabinet anytime.

Our staff correspondent from Muzaffarabad adds However, Legislative Assembly Speaker Shah Ghulam Qadir said the prime minister had failed to win over the lawmakers opposed to his rule notwithstanding offering ministerial slots as “political bribe.”

“Today, our stance has once again been vindicated that he [PM] heads a minority government and did not have any more legislators by his side to appoint them as ministers.”

Earlier, a new notification containing the names of 15 ministers was issued by the S&GAD, repealing the one issued on Thursday last.

The fresh notification omitted the name of Sardar Naeem Khan after he had publicly declined to take oath under the present circumstances. It, however, added the name of Chaudhry Mohammad Ismail as Minister for Population Welfare, Labour and Prisons.

Of the 15 ministers, only Mohammad Siddique Batli was absent for being abroad. Initially, there were reports that he may also decline the ministerial position but sources said he appeared to be hazy about his next course of action.

Mr Ismail was also initially appointed as special assistant to the prime minister, a position he already held since March this year. However, he too had refused to accept the position, making it clear to the beleaguered prime minister that nothing short of a ministerial slot could satisfy him.

There was no change in the portfolios of remaining ministers as mentioned in the revoked notification of last Thursday.

However, an extraordinary episode was exclusion of Chaudhry Tariq Farooq from the new notification about prime minister’s advisers. The new notification carried only three names – Raja Yasin, Shamim Malik and Nahid Tariq. Mr Yasin is not an MLA.

Mr Farooq and AJK president, who belong to the same district, had allegedly been at loggerheads since long. Reports were that he had sacrificed his position to resolve the differences between the president and the prime minister.

Mr Farooq, who had recently been tasked by the prime minister to deal with the media, told Dawn that he had declined the offer in the interest of the party’s government and his affiliation with the prime minister was unwavering.