PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government on Saturday assigned portfolios to 13 newly appointed cabinet members, completing the formation of Chief Minister Sohail Afridi’s first provincial cabinet.
The oath-taking ceremony took place a day earlier at the Governor House in Peshawar, marking a new phase for the provincial administration following Afridi’s appointment as chief minister last month, replacing Ali Amin Gandapur.
According to an official notification, Meena Khan Afridi has been appointed as Minister for Local Government, Elections, and Rural Development, while Arshad Ayub Khan will oversee Elementary and Secondary Education.
Fazal Shakoor has been given the Public Health Engineering Department, and Dr Amjad has been appointed Minister for Housing. Aftab Alam Afridi takes charge of Law, Parliamentary Affairs, and Human Rights.
Syed Fakhar Jehan will lead the Excise, Taxation, and Narcotics Control Department, and Riaz Khan will head Irrigation. Khaleequr Rehman is the new Health Minister, while Aqibullah Khan has been assigned Relief, Rehabilitation, and Settlement. Faisal Khan Tarkai has been appointed Minister for Labour.
Additionally, Muzzammil Aslam has been named Adviser on Finance, Taj Muhammad Tarand as Adviser on Sports and Youth Affairs, and Shafiullah Jan as Special Assistant to the Chief Minister on Information.
The newly formed cabinet is notably smaller than Gandapur’s, which previously included 33 members before a reshuffle reduced its size. However, the current 13-member team still exceeds the single-digit limit recommended by PTI founder Imran Khan.
Party sources said Imran had advised Afridi to keep the cabinet compact, with five to eight members, and had cautioned against including certain individuals such as Aqibullah Khan, Faisal Tarakai, and Shakeel Khan. Despite these directives, Afridi proceeded with a broader lineup.
Imran, the former prime minister, reportedly emphasized including senior PTI figures who had been previously overlooked, but his suggestions were not fully implemented. The development reflects emerging differences within PTI’s provincial leadership as Afridi consolidates his team.
