Pakistan: Nawaz Sharif orders Prime Minister to quickly form cabinet – News

The ruling coalition of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan Peoples Party is expected to finalize the federal cabinet soon, with the PML-N deciding to ask its main supporter, the PPP, to join the cabinet, according to a report in press published Sunday.

A meeting chaired by PML-N supremo and three-time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and attended by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif along with other leaders decided that the PPP should be approached again with a request for cabinet membership federal.

“Shahbaz Sharif said in the meeting, which was held on Saturday before the presidential election, that he would speak to Asif Ali Zardari after his election as president,” The News International said on Sunday.

Citing sources, the report said that Prime Minister Shahbaz, during his brief meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari at the Zardari House, reiterated his party’s demand that the PPP also join the cabinet.

“Shahbaz Sharif, accompanied by Senator Ishaq Dar and Attaullah Tarar, visited the Zardari House to personally greet the newly elected President,” the statement added.

As part of the post-election alliance, when the PML-N and PPP decided to join hands with four other small parties, PPP co-chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had announced that his party would stay away of the government because he had not obtained the mandate to govern in the February 8 elections but had declared his support for the Sharifs government from the outside.

Earlier, Nawaz Sharif had asked Shahbaz Sharif to announce the composition of the cabinet at the earliest and start implementing the party’s manifesto, which seeks to overcome economic challenges and provide relief to the people.

“Currently, people’s expectations from the PML-N are high,” the PML-N leader told the participants, adding that the new government, however, faces enormous challenges. Reducing inflation is also inevitable,” the portal further cited the sources as saying.

Around fifteen cabinet members will be announced during the first phase.