Chief Minister Sohail Afridi’s newly appointed 13-member provincial cabinet was sworn into office on Friday in Peshawar, marking the end of weeks of delay in forming the government’s executive team.
The oath-taking ceremony was held at the Governor’s House, where KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi administered the pledge to the incoming ministers, according to a provincial government statement.
The ministers who took oath include Meena Khan Afridi, Arshad Ayub Khan, Amjad Ali, Aftab Alam Afridi, Fazal Shakoor Khan, Khaleequr Rehman, Riaz Khan, Syed Fakhar Jehan, Aqibullah Khan, and Faisal Khan Tarakai. Governor Kundi congratulated the new cabinet members and wished them success in their roles.
Documents obtained by Dawn.com show that CM Afridi also appointed Muzammil Aslam and Taj Muhammad as advisers, along with Shafi Jan as a special assistant. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s KP chapter confirmed these appointments via social media.
The cabinet formation had been significantly delayed, as Afridi—who assumed office earlier this month—had initially stated he would only announce his team after consulting with imprisoned PTI founder Imran Khan. After multiple unsuccessful attempts to meet the former prime minister, Imran’s sister conveyed to Afridi that he had “full authority” to proceed with forming the cabinet independently.
Opposition members in the KP Assembly had been increasingly vocal in their criticism of the delay, arguing that governmental operations had effectively stalled. Some lawmakers expressed concern that the prolonged vacuum could potentially invite emergency measures in the province.
Within PTI’s provincial ranks, there had been calls to exclude individuals from the previous cabinet who faced corruption allegations or had damaged reputations from the new government lineup.
