President Alvi refuses to administer oaths to federal cabinet members; ceremony postponed: sources

• Sources say Senate chairman will administer oaths to members of federal cabinet.
• President Alvi excuses himself from administrating oaths to the federal cabinet.
• Oath-taking ceremony is likely to take place on Tuesday or Wednesday.

ISLAMABAD: President Arif Alvi Saturday excused himself from administrating oaths to the federal cabinet members, following which the ceremony has been postponed, Geo News reported, citing sources.

According to sources, in the absence of President Alvi, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjarani will administer the oath to the members of the federal cabinet.

Meanwhile, sources in the president's house stated that the oath-taking ceremony is likely to take place either tomorrow (Tuesday) or the day after tomorrow (Wednesday).

The federal cabinet was scheduled to administer the oaths tonight at 8:30pm; however, when the prime minister's office contacted the president's office, Alvi refused to administer the oaths.

Earlier, during an informal conversation with journalists, PPP leader Khurshid Shah revealed that the PML-N will have the majority in the cabinet with 14 ministries. The PPP will have 11, and the JUI-F will be given four ministries. Meanwhile, the rest of the seven positions will be allotted to other allies.

Meanwhile, speaking on Geo News programme "Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Saath", PML-N leader confirmed the federal cabinet would be taking oath tomorrow and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari would become the next foreign minister.

He also said that Ahsan Iqbal will become the minister for special initiatives, planning, and development, Miftah Ismail finance minister, and Rana Sanaullah will be appointed as the interior minister.

According to sources, the following is the list of the party-wise divisions of ministries:

• Ministry of Climate Change — PPP
• Aviation Division — PML-N
• Commerce and Trade Ministry — PPP
• Ministry of Communications — JUI-F
• Ministry of Defence — PML-N
• Ministry of Defence Production — BAP
• Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs — PML-N
• Ministry of Education — BNP-M
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs — PPP
• Ministry of Human Rights — PPP
• Ministry of Housing — JUI-F
• Ministry of Industries and Production — PPP
• Ministry of Information and Broadcasting — PML-N
• Ministry of Information and Technology — MQM-P
• Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs — PML-N
• Ministry of Energy — PML-N
• Ministry of Special Initiatives, Planning, and Development — PML-N
• Petroleum Division — PML-N
• Ministry of Poverty Alleviation — PPP
• Ministry of Privatisation — PPP
• Ministry of Railways — PML-N
• Ministry of Religious Affairs and Inter-faith Harmony — PML-N
• Ministry of SAFFRON — PML-N
• Ministry of Science and Technology — BAP
• Ministry of Water Resources — PPP