ISLAMABAD: Despite tall claims of austerity and belt-tightening, the PML-N-led federal government on Thursday more than doubled the size of the federal cabinet, increasing its members from 21 to 43, including 30 federal ministers, nine ministers of state and four advisers.

The new appointees also include four special assistants to the prime minister, meaning that the overall size of the premier`s team now stands at 51 members, including eight SAPMs.

In the latest expansion,12federal ministers and nine ministers of state were sworn in by President Asif Ali Zardari during a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, federal ministers, parliamentarians, senior bureaucrats, and others. In addition, three advisers and four SAPMs were also inducted.According to a notification issued by the Cabinet Division, 28 members were inducted, including two who were already serving as ministers of state Shaza Fatima Khawaja and Ali Pervez Malik bringing the total number of new inductees to 26.

Ms Khawaja is the only woman federal minister, but the 51-member team now includes two women with the addition of Wajiha Qamar as a minister of state.

The new cabinet members have not yet been assigned portfolios.

Before the expansion, the federal cabinet comprised 21 members 18 federal ministers, two ministers of state and one adviser apart from four SAPMs.

According to Article 92 of the Constitution, no more than onefourth of federal ministers and ministers of state can be from the Senate, and the total cabinet size cannot exceed 11 per cent of the total parliament ary membership.Presently, the National Assembly and Senate have 336 and 96 members, respectively, totalling 432.

Having a hefty federal cabinet is not a new phenomenon in the country, as almost all previous regimes have claimed they would keep its size small, but later packed their cabinets.

Former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani of the PPP had initially pledged to keep his cabinet undersized but later increased it to 40 members. Similarly, during the PTI government (2018-2022), the cabinet swelled to 86 members, comprising 34 federal ministers, seven ministers of state, 10 advisers and 35 SAPMs.

Oath-taking The oath-taking ceremony took place at the Presidency shortly after President Zardari awarded the prestigious Nishan-i-Pakistan to Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, at the same venue.

According to the notification,the12newlyappointed federal ministers are Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhary, Ali Pervaiz Malik, Aurangzeb Khan Khichi, Khalid Hussain Magsi, Muhammad Hanif Abbasi, Muhammad Mueen Wattoo, Muhammad Junaid Anwar, Muhammad Raza Hayat Hiraj, Sardar Muhammad Yousaf, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Rana Mubashar Iqbal and Syed Mustafa Kamal.

Similarly, nine parliamentarianswereappointed as ministers of state, including Barrister Ageel Malik, Malik Rasheed Ahmad Khan, Abdul Rehman Khan Kanju, Bilal Azhar Kayani, Kesoo Mal Kheal Das, Mohammad Awn Saglain, Mukhtar Ahmad Malik, Talal Chaudhry and Wajiha Qamar.

Three advisers Dr Syed Taugir Hussain Shah, Muhammad Ali and Pervez Khattak were added to the cabinet, increasing the number of advisers to the prime minister to four.

Four individuals appointed as special assistants to the prime minister (SAPMs) are Haroon Akhtar, Huzaifa Rehman, Mubarak Zeb and Talha Burki.

Key appointments Most of the newly inducted members belong to the ruling PML-N, but leaders from allied parties also secured positions in the cabinet.

Pervez Khattak: One of the most significant aspects was the induction of former PTI leader Pervez Khattak into PM Shehbaz`s cabinet. Mr Khattak, once a frontline figure in PTI, became disgruntled after being accused of not following the party line. He previously served as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa`s chief minister from 2013 to 2018 under PTI`s provincial government.

Dr Taugir Shah: A close confidant of PM Shehbaz, Dr Taugir Shah was appointed as an adviser.

Mr Shah previously served as principal secretary to the prime minister before joining the World Bank as group executive director.

He also served as Pakistan`s ambassador to the World Trade Organisation. His extensive career includes positions in the Ministry ofNational Health Services and the International Trade Centre, among others.

He joined the World Bank in November 2023 as executive director, representing Pakistan and other member countries, and was later appointed alternate executive director in November 2024.

Khalid Magsi: The Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), an ally of PML-N, secured a position in the federal cabinet with its president, Khalid Magsi, appointed as a federal minister. He is the only member of his party to hold a cabinet position.

Mustafa Kamal: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), another ally of the ruling party, added its second member to the federal cabinet as Mustafa Kamal was sworn in as a federal minister.

Previously, MQM leader Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui held two portfolios minister for science and technology, and federal education and professional training. It is expected that one of these ministries will be reassigned to Mustafa Kamal.

Awn Saqlain: The Istehkam Pakistan Party (IPP) also secured its second cabinet slot with Awn Chaudhry taking oath as minister of state. IPP leader Abdul Aleem Khan currently holds three federal ministries Privatisation, Board of Investment (BoI) and Communication.

Raza Hayat Hiraj: A political veteran who previously served during the regime of former military dictatorPervezMusharraf, Mr Hiraj made his political comeback as a federal minister. Currently a member of the National Assembly from PML-N, Mr Hiraj also previously served as MNA during 2002-08 and 2008-13.

PTI expels four Interestingly, one of the newly inducted SAPMs, Mubarak Zeb, was among four MNAs expelled by PTI on Thursday for violating party rules by voting in favour of the 26th Amendment against party directives.

According to a notification issued by PTPs Additional Secretary General Firdous Shamim Naqvi, the decision was made following the completion of an inquiry and recommendations from the party`s political committee, founding chairman, and chairman.

The expelled members are Amanullah Khichi, Mubarak Zeb, Zahoor Qureshi and Usman Ali.