Islamabad: Less than 10 days after it was appointed, Chief Minister Parvez Elahi reshuffled Punjab Cabinet changing portfolios of several provincial ministers including PTI leaders Yasmin Rashid and Raja Basharat. According to notification issued by Chief Minister Office, Basharat who was previously in change of office of Public Prosecution has been assigned portfolios of Parliamentary Affairs and Environmental Protection.

Similarly, Dr Yasmin Rashid has been removed from Ministry of Primary and Secondary Health and given charge as Minister for Specialised Health and Medical Education. Meanwhile, Brig (retd) Muhammad Musaddiq and Akhtar Malik have been assigned portfolios of Public Prosecution and Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department, respectively. Arsalan Khalid has been given portfolio of Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB), which was previously held by Raja Yasir Humayun. Moreover, Khurram Virk has been removed from office of Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.

21-member Cabinet of PTI-PML-Q coalition government, comprising all PTI leaders was appointed last week after it was finalised by PTI Chairman Imran Khan. According to reports, names finalised by former prime minister were handed over to chief minister’s son, MNA Moonis Elahi. Moonis had received list of proposed first phase 21-member Cabinet and assured Imran that he had already given Punjab’s chief ministership to PML-Q and nothing more was required. He added that Khan told him that PML-Q parliamentarians would also be inducted into provincial Cabinet in second phase.

Published in The Daily National Courier, August, 16 2022

Like Business on Facebook, follow @DailyNCourier on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.