18-member Punjab cabinet takes oath

LAHORE: The 18-member cabinet of Punjab on Wednesday took oath at a ceremony in Governor House in Lahore, ARY News reported.

Punjab Governor Baligh Ur Rehman administered oath to the newly appointed ministers of the provincial government led by Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz.

The cabinet members who took oath included Maryam Aurangzeb, Aashiq Kirmani, Kazim Pirzada, Rana Sikander Hayat, Khawaja Salman Rafique, Khawaja Imran Nazir, Zeeshan Rafique, Bilal Akbar, Sohail Shaukat, Azma Bukhari, Bilal Yasin, Ramesh Singh Arora, and others.

The ceremony was attended by newly appointed Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz. She congratulated the 18-member cabinet of Punjab.

Earlier, Maryam Nawaz was elected as the first female chief minister of Punjab province amid a boycott of proceedings by the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) with 220 votes.

Her opponent, Sunni Ittehad Council’s (SIC) candidate Rana Aftab Aftab Ahmad, received zero (0) votes due to the boycott.

It is pertinent to mention that out of a total 366 seats in the Punjab Assembly, PML-N bagged a total of 224 seats in Assembly and remained at the top. PML-N won 139 seats, 21 independents joined it while PML-N got 7 women seats out of total 57 reserved women seats.

Meanwhile Sunni Ittehad Council’s member total strength remained at 106. Pakistan Peoples’ Party bagged 16 seats in Punjab.

PML-Q bagged total 11 seats including 8 won by its candidates while got 3 women seats. Ishtekam-e-Pakistan Party bagged total of 6 seats, one won by its candidate, 3 independents joined it while IPP got 2 women reserved seats.

Tehreek-e-Labbaik, Muslim League Zia and Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) got one seat each.