Pakistan's New PM Forms Cabinet


Pakistan's New PM Forms Cabinet

TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Pakistan's new Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Friday formed a cabinet filled with allies of toppled leader Nawaz Sharif, in a reshuffle that appears aimed at bolstering support ahead of general elections due in mid-2018.

Ishaq Dar, a powerful finance minister, returns in the same role, despite a criminal investigation ordered against him by the Supreme Court.

Another staunch Sharif ally, Khawaja Asif, is to be Foreign Minister after having simultaneously run the ministries of defense and power.

The cabinet which has almost doubled in size to 47 members was sworn in during a televised ceremony in the mainly Muslim nation of 190 million people, Reuters reported.

Former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, resigned last week after the Supreme Court disqualified him for not declaring a source of income he denies receiving.

There are 28 federal ministers and 19 state ministers in the new cabinet, almost double Sharif's 25-strong cabinet when he swept the 2013 polls.

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