Oct 21 , 2015
News
QWP rejoins KP coalition government after 20 months
*Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli will serve as minister for Mines and Minerals as well as Labour and Manpower while Sikandar Sherpao will be senior minister for Home and Tribal AffairsPESHAWAR: Two Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) legislators took oath as ministers to join Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Pervez Khattak’s cabinet on Tuesday as their party joined the PTI-led provincial coalition government after almost 20 months.
In September, the QWP had entered into an agreement with the ruling PTI to share power in the province, almost 20 months after the former was thrown out of the ruling coalition on corruption charges. The agreement was signed by Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao himself.
Provincial Governor Mahtab Ahmad Khan administered the oath to QWP’s Sikandar Khan Sherpao and Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli.
Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli will serve as minister for Mines and Minerals as well as Labour and Manpower while Sikandar Sherpao will be the senior minister for Home and Tribal Affairs as well as Irrigation departments.
Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao also serves as QWP’s parliamentary leader in the provincial assembly while Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli is party’s serving general secretary.
The QWP had become part of the ruling coalition in the province after the PTI formed the government in the wake of the May 2013 polls. However, the PTI ousted it from the government on November 9, 2013 by sacking both of its ministers, Sikandar Hayat Sherpao and Bakht Baidar Khan, on corruption charges.
In a related development, Chief Minister Pervez Khattak took the charge of Information ministry from Mushtaq Ghani.
The government de-notified Ghani as minister for Information and Higher Education and appointed him as special assistant to chief minister for Information and Higher Education.
In a notification issued here by the Cabinet Wing Information Department, it was said that the governor has appointed him as special assistant on the advice of the chief minister.
It is to mention here that Mushtaq Ghani has been de-notified as minister to accommodate two MPAs of QWP into the provincial cabinet. As under the 18th Amendment in the constitution, no provincial assembly cabinet can keep more than 14 ministers, therefore the KP government asked Mushtaq Ghani to resign as minister and hold the two ministries as special assistant to chief minister.
Mushtaq was elected as independent MPA from Abottabad but later joined PTI.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk