President Mamnoon Hussain administered the oath to the 16 federal ministers. Newly sworn-in Prime Minister Khan was by his side.The new Cabinet has 16 federal ministers and five advisers to the prime minister, most of them previously held key posts in the regime of former dictator General (retd) Pervez Musharraf.
The ministers who took the oath include Shah Mehmood Qureshi as the Foreign Minister, Defence Minister Pervez Khattak, Finance Minister Asad Umer, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, Education Minister Shafqat Mehmood, Health Minister Amir Kiani, Religious Minister Nooru Haq Qadri and Railway Minister Sheikh Rashid.
Qureshi, the vice president of the party, was the foreign minister from 2008 to 2011 under the Pakistan Peoples Party government when the 2008 Mumbai terror attack took place.
He was in New Delhi when 10 Pakistan-based LeT terrorists attacked India’s financial capital. Finance Minister Umer is the son of former Lt Gen Mohammad Umer who was part of the Pakistan Army during 1971 war with India.
After taking the oath, Umer told media that government will address immediate issues like current account deficit but also take long term measures to fix all problems. We will bring structural changes so that recurrent crises are avoided, he said.Defence Minister Khattak said the cabinet will work 12 hours every day to fulfill the agenda set out by the Prime Minister. We will bring peace in the country by working day and night, he said.
