ISLAMABAD, 24 November — After three years of military rule, executive power returned to civilian hands in Pakistan yesterday with the swearing-in of Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali as prime minister and his 21-member Cabinet. President Pervez Musharraf administered the oaths.
Jamali, from the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), was elected prime minister on Thursday by a razor-thin margin from the hung National Assembly that resulted from the October polls. His votes came from a combination of pro-military parties, independents and 10 dissenters from the PPP. Six of the PPP dissenters were rewarded with positions in Jamali’s new Cabinet.
The Defense Ministry went to Rao Sikandar Iqbal, one of the PPP defectors. Faisal Saleh Hayat, who used to be close to PPP leader-in-exile Benazir Bhutto, was handed the Interior Ministry with additional responsibility for narcotics control, a statement issued by Cabinet Secretary Javed Masud said.
The third PPP man, Nauroz Shakoor, was named petroleum and natural resources minister. Among the other key ministries, foreign affairs went to Mian Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri, commerce went to Humayun Akhtar Khan and education to a female minister, Zubaida Jalal, who held the same position in the outgoing military government.
Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and Abdul Sattar Lalika, both ministers in the Nawaz Sharif government deposed by Musharraf, were given information and media, and labor respectively. Liaquat Ali Jatoi was given industries and production, Mohammad Nasir Khan is to oversee health, Ghaus Bakhsh Mehar will take railways and Sardar Yar Mohammad Rind takes the portfolio of food, agriculture and livestock.
Other ministers include Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, a former chief minister of North West Frontier Province, and Owais Ahmed Khan Leghari, the son of former President Farooq Ahmed Leghari, who hail from the minor pro-military parties.
Sherpao took water and power, while information technology and telecommunications went to Leghari.
The four other ministers of state are Mohammad Tahir Iqbal, Hamid Yar Khan Hiraj, Sikandar Khan Bosan and Habibullah Waraich, all from the PML-Q.
Four advisers to Jamali named at the conclusion of the ceremony included Musharraf’s former finance minister, Shaukat Aziz, and renowned legal expert Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada.
The ethnic-based Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), whose 17 votes were also crucial in Jamali’s win as prime minister, missed out on Cabinet slots.
But senior party leader Farooq Sattar told AFP they were offered two ministries “with important portfolios” but they decided not to accept them. “For the time being we have decided not to join the government. It is possible that we will review this decision at a later stage,” he said.
Speaking after the ceremony, Musharraf expressed his satisfaction over the composition of the Cabinet. “I think this team is good. I have no doubts that those who are in the Cabinet are competent people,” he said, adding that he thought the government would complete its term.
