PAKISTAN Political Crisis and the New Cabinet

On April 19, Pakistan’s new Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his 34-member cabinet (thirty-one federal ministers and three ministers of state) took the oath which was administered by Senate chairman Sadiq Sanjrani. Pakistan’s President Dr. Arif Alvi has supposedly approved the nominations. Rumors of disagreements amongst the ruling coalition regarding the portfolios were rife. However, the new federal government claims to have resolved the reservations with the new cabinet.

Later, on April 22, the National Security Committee (NSC) said that no evidence of “foreign conspiracy” against Imran Khan’s government and that sought his ouster was found. The United States welcomed the NSC’s statement. The US Department of State Principal Deputy Spokesperson Jalina Porter said, “There’s absolutely no truth to those rumors”. Meanwhile, former PM Imran Khan blamed his law minister Farogh Naseem for causing discord in PTI’s relations with the judiciary. He referred to the Justice Qazi Faiz Isa case as a ‘government mistake’ that led to the ruining of relations between PTI and Pakistan’s judiciary.