August 05, 2017
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Pakistan's new Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Friday formed a cabinet filled with allies of toppled leader Nawaz Sharif, in a reshuffle that appears aimed at bolstering support ahead of general elections due in mid-2018.
Ishaq Dar, a powerful finance minister, returns in the same role, despite a criminal investigation ordered against him by the Supreme Court.
Another staunch Sharif ally, Khawaja Asif, is to be Foreign Minister after having simultaneously run the ministries of defence and power.
The cabinet has almost doubled in size to 47 members, sworn in during a televised ceremony after a reading from the Koran holy book in the mainly Muslim nation of 190 million people.
"It's a massive cabinet," said Pakistani writer and analyst Zahid Hussain.
Abbasi is a staunch Nawaz ally, having been by his side for most of his political career. The cabinet was formed after several discussions between them, and Nawaz's allies.
There are 28 federal ministers and 19 state ministers in the new cabinet, almost double Sharif's 25-strong cabinet when he swept the 2013 polls.
Abbasi will also head a new energy ministry that merges the petroleum and power portfolios.
Ahsan Iqbal, head of a commission tasked with building the Beijing-funded $57 billion China-Pakistan Economic corridor, has been appointed Interior Minister.
To shore up the voter base in Punjab, Abbasi has added five politicians from prominent families that command huge vote banks in the south of the region, seen as pivotal to the next poll.
"There was always been a fear or a concern they would jump ship if the government seems weak," he added.
Darshan Lal also became the first Hindu minister in more than two decades when Abbasi appointed him to lead coordination between four Pakistani provinces, a government official said.
Under Sharif, the PML-N has also courted the minority vote, using symbolic gestures at odds with its conservative base.
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