28 federal, 18 state ministers of Prime Minister Abbasi's cabinet sworn-in

• PM forms four new Ministries; Daniyal, two others skip oath-taking;
• New Cabinet all set to serve nation with commitment, say Ministers
• Shahid Khaqan has constituted Ministry of Energy, with 2 constituent 
• Divisions namely Power Division and Petroleum Division: PM House

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Cabinet of newly elected Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi with 28 federal and 18 state ministers took oath in Islamabad on Friday three days after the new PM took oath of his office.

President Mamnoon Hussain administered oath to members of the Cabinet at an august ceremony at Aiwan-e-Sadr, Islamabad.

The new Federal Cabinet of Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was earlier finalized by the senior leadership of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

Those sworn in as Federal Ministers included Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Kamran Micheal, Muhammad Pervaiz Malik, Hafiz Abdul Kareem, Engr. Khurram Dastgir Khan, Syed Javed Ali Shah, Rana Tanveer Hussain, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Akram Khan Durrani, Ghulam Murtaza Khan Jatoi, Riaz Hussain Pirzada, Ahsan Iqbal, Lt. General (Retd) Salahuddin Tirmizi, Muhammad Barjees Tahir, Zahid Hamid, Mushahid Ullah Khan, Sardar Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari, Pir Syed Sadaruddin Shah Rashidi, Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Sardar Muhammad Yousaf, Lt. General (Retd) Abdul Qadir Baloch, Saira Afzal Tarar, Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan, Sheikh Aftab Ahmed, Muhammad Baligh Ur Rehman and Molana Ameer Zaman.

Dr. Tariq Fazal Chaudhary, Haji Muhammad Akram Ansari, Muhammad Junaid Anwaar Chaudhry, Abid Sher Ali, Jam Kamal Khan, Marriyum Aurangzeb, Anusha Rahman, Dr. Darshan, Muhammad Tallal Chaudhry, Barrister Mohsin Shahnawaz Ranjha, Barrister Usman Ibrahim, Abdul Rehman Khan Kanju, Ch. Jaffar Iqbal, Sardar Muhammad Arshad Khan Laghari, Pir Muhammad Amin Ul Hasnat Shah and Ghalib Khan took oath as Minsters of State.

The portfolios of the Ministers and Ministers of State would be announced later. Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, parliamentarians, senior politicians, diplomats and high level civil officials attended the oath-taking ceremony. The entire oath taking ceremony was administered in national language. 

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Friday constituted four new Ministries and their constituent Divisions under the provisions of Rule 3 of the Rules of Business 1973. 

According to a PM House statement, the Prime Minister has constituted the Ministry of Energy, with two constituent Divisions namely Power Division and Petroleum Division.

The Ministry of Water Resources has been constituted with one constituent division, namely Water Resources Division. The business of the existing Division of Water and Power and Petroleum and Natural Resources shall be distributed between the two new divisions accordingly.

The Ministry of Postal Services has also been constituted with one constituent division, namely Postal Services Division. The business of the existing Communications Division to the extent of postal services shall be transferred to the new division while residual business shall remain with the existing Communications Division.

The PM has constituted Ministry of Commerce and Textiles, with two constituent divisions, namely Commerce Division and Textile Division. The current business of the two existing divisions of commerce and textile industry shall be placed under the new ministry accordingly.

The Cabinet Division shall take further action immediately to implement the Prime Minister's orders.

Meanwhile, newly elected Cabinet on Friday expressed their firm resolve to work with more commitment and dedication for the national prosperity and socio-economic development of the country.

Talking to state-run media, Minster for Foreign Affair's Khawaja Asif said, "Our commitments are with the people of the country and we would continue to serve them as long as we would be the member of the cabinet."

He said, "The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was stronger than ever before with not a single defection while the democracy was gaining strength." 

He further thanked Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and former PM Nawaz Sharif reposing confidence in him and giving him a big responsibility to serve with his hard work.

He said, "The PML-N government under visionary leadership of Nawaz Sharif had put the country on fast track of economic progress, development and prosperity. The government during its four years had achieved many successes in all fields."

"Earlier, we also succeeded in the first phase for choosing Leader of the house with majority seats and consensus of the party leaders," he said.

He highlighted in accordance with the demand of opposition that, "Prime Minister Khaqan Abbasi and Nawaz Sharif allocated me the Foreign ministry that I accepted and will continue my straggle to perform my duties."

Federal Minister for Interior Ahsan Iqbal said, "We have faced many challenges in our four years tenure but therefore we continued to serve the nation with our hard works and devotions."

He mentioned that, "We want to complete China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project that would bring prosperity in the country as no compromise would be on its smooth running."

Federal Minister for Education and Training Engineer Baligh-ur-Rahman added that, "Pakistan would further continue to progress under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Khaqan Abbasi."

"It is also a positive development that democracy was not derailed and now once again it is back on track. We again ready to serve the nation as we delivered in four year period," he said.

"There is short time left in coming elections and we do not want to waste any time. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is a seasoned politician who has a long struggle in the party. PML-N is an ideological party, which believes in rule of law. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is a competent person" he added.

He concluded that, "In our last year we will not sit idle and we will continue work. We are sure that PML-N will continue the development agenda of Nawaz Sharif and will also focus on betterment in agriculture, education and health services." - NNI