Interim PM Kakar set to retain Shehbaz's aides

• Dr Syed Tauqir Hussain Shah will continue to serve as PSPM till October.
• Arshad Muneer Khan will serve as principal information officer.
• Caretaker federal cabinet likely to be announced later this week.

ISLAMABAD: Interim Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar would retain three senior aides of his predecessor Shehbaz Sharif whereas no federal secretary would be changed forthwith, The News reported Tuesday. 

A day earlier, Kakar — a former senator and a leader of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) — took oath as the eighth caretaker prime minister of Pakistan to see the country through to the general elections which are due in months.

Sources told The News on Monday that Principal Secretary to Prime Minister (PSPM) Dr Syed Tauqir Hussain Shah, former advisor to PM Ahad Cheema, and joint secretary Mohib Ali had been retained by the interim PM.

Shah would continue as PSPM till October this year after which he would be moved to the World Bank where he would serve as its group executive director of Pakistan for four years.

Furthermore, Cheema is likely to be assigned a post equal to a federal minister, the sources said, whereas Press Secretary to PM Abdul Akbar would also be among the officers who would continue in office.

Meanwhile, sources revealed that Arshad Muneer Khan, who has been promoted to grade-21, would be posted as principal information officer (PIO).

Military Secretary (MS) to Prime Minister Brigadier Tajdeed Mumtaz would also continue to perform his duties in his current administrative post.

Deliberations for the caretaker federal cabinet would commence from today with the possibility of it being announced later this week, sources said.