The Elite Club

The KP’s caretaker cabinet comprises financers of parties, relatives and friends of the power

Peshawar: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) caretaker cabinet has raised many eyebrows as some people believe the caretaker government comprises wealthy millionaires and close relatives, business partners and financers of leading political parties.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)—the party which ruled the province prior to dissolution of the provincial assembly last month—accuses that most of the cabinet members have been nominated on wishes of the parties in the ruling alliance, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).

According to sources, most of the people inducted in the cabinet have direct and indirect relations with the top leadership of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F), the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) and the Awami National Party (ANP).

KP Governor Haji Ghulam Ali has been very active during the formation of the caretaker setup. He also adroitly hijacked the cabinet’s maiden interaction with the media held at the Chief Minister House where the Caretaker CM Azam Khan surprisingly took a back seat and hardly uttered a word.

CM Azam chose not to reply to some journalists when the questions were put directly to him. He only assured them that the caretaker setup would assist the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in holding free and fair elections once the date for the elections is announced.

To a query regarding the selection of the caretaker cabinet, Azam Khan politely replied that he endorsed the cabinet but his body language said otherwise.

The PTI expressed its annoyance over the KP caretaker setup in a letter that the party’s provincial president Pervez Khattak wrote to the ECP on February 8. In the letter, Khattak claimed that Governor Ghulam Ali influenced the process of the selection of the caretaker cabinet.

He said the PTI feared that transparent elections could not be held in the province in the prevailing circumstances if the caretaker setup remained under Ghulam Ali’s and the PDM’s influence.

He is now planning to install the bureaucrats and officials of his choice to rig the upcoming elections, Khattak claimed. He requested the ECP to stop the governor from influencing the caretaker setup directly or indirectly to ensure fair and free elections, “which is the only mandate of the caretaker setup”.

Speaking to Bol News, the PTI’s provincial spokesman said, “How can we expect fair and free elections from a cabinet, as most of them are nominated by the PDM and majority of them are billionaires—close relatives of political leaders who have looted Pakistan. We don’t think they can hold free and fair polls.”

To put things in perspective, Bol News presents here some details about the caretaker ministers.

Adnan Jalil

Adnan Jalil, a prominent businessman from Peshawar, is the son of deceased ANP central leader and former senator Haji Mohammad Adeel. However, he is not included in the cabinet on the recommendation of the ANP. Jalil is the choice of KP Governor Haji Ghulam as he is also a part of the business group with which the KP governor has close affiliations. Jalil is also a member of the KP Chamber of Commerce, the president of the Peshawar Chamber of Small Industries and the former vice president of the Federal Chamber of Commerce. Having a master’s degree in Business Administration from London, he is very actively working for the rights of the business community of Peshawar. He has been striving to modernize small industries and give them access to foreign markets.

Manzoor Khan Afridi

Manzoor Khan Afridi is among the prominent businessmen of Khyber district. Before the 2018 general elections, the PTI had proposed his name as the candidate for caretaker chief minister but then JUI-F leader Mulana Attaur Rehman  had strongly opposed his nomination and Justice Dost Muhammad was appointed as caretaker at that time.  Interestingly, Afridi later got affiliated to the JUI-F and now he has been appointed as a minister on the JUI-F recommendation. It is an open secret that Manzoor is also among the key financers of the JUI-F. He is now considered very close to the JUI-F chief Mulana Fazlur Rehman. Afridi is the younger brother of former PTI senator Ayub Afridi and a relative of Peshawar Zalmi owner Javed Afridi. He has not stepped into politics do far but his name is among

Taj Muhammad Afridi

A former senator, Taj Muhammad Afridi also belongs to the business community of Khyber district. He is brother of former MNA Shah Jee Gul Afridi who has recently formed a new political party Tehreek-e-Islahaat Pakistan. According to the documents released by the Election Commission of Pakistan in 2020, Taj Muhammad was one of the richest senators with a net worth of over Rs1 billion.

Bakht Nawaz

Hailing from Battagram district, Bakht Nawaz has served as a provincial minister in the past. He belongs to the JUI-F and is a contractor by profession. He is also one of the key financer of the party.

Shahid Khan Khattak

Shahid Khan Khattak from Nowshera district is a member of the ANP and was the party’s candidate for a National Assembly seat from Nowshera in the 2018 general election. He is considered a key financer of the ANP and a close aide of the party’s provincial president Aimal Wali. . He is the son-in-law of Colonel Shams, a war veteran. One of his daughters is married to the son of PPP politicians Arbab Alamgir and Asma Alamgir.

Justice (retd) Irshad Qaiser

Justice Irshad Qaiser has been the second female district and session judge in the history of the province. She was born in Peshawar in 1954 and became an additional judge of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) in 2012. Irshad Qaiser also served as a judge of an accountability court for six years. Qaiser has also been the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) member from the KP. She also served as the ECP’s acting chairman for some time.

Abdul Halim Qaisoria

Abdul Halim Qaisoria from Dera Ismail Khan had participated in the 2018 general elections but failed to get elected. He started his career as a Tahsidar and retired as a Provincial Management Service (PMS) officer. He is on cordial terms with caretaker CM Azam Khan and has been included in cabinet on his recommendation.

Haji Muhammad Ghafran

Haji Muhammad Ghafran belongs to Swabi district and is the owner of Daewoo Pakistan, a bus manufacturing company. He is a key financer of the QWP but is not very active in politics. Ghafran has served as a senator from 2006 to 2012. He also contested the Senate election in 2018 but did not succeed. He is the father-in-law of Shamoon Abbasi, the son of former KP chief minister and governor, Sardar Mehtab Khan Abbasi. Mehtab is a senior leader of the PML-N and a close aide of Nawaz Sharif. However, Abbasi is likely to quit the PML-N.

Khushdil Khan Malik

Khushdal Khan Malik belongs to Akbarpura area of Nowshera district. He has not been very active in politics but he is one of the close associates of PTI central leader Pervez Khattak. Khushdil has been a government servant and was serving as the principal of FG School Mangla Cantt when he took oath as a caretaker minister on January 26. He submitted a leave prior retirement (LPR) when a concerned department raised objections. Khushdil served in key positions in different departments including NACTA thanks to political affiliations and connections.

Muhammad Ali Shah

Muhammad Ali Shah belongs to Swat and he has been the District Nazim of Swat from 2015 to 2019. Shah is a close associate of PML-N leader Amir Muqqam and is a contractor by profession. Interestingly Amir Muqam, who has been jumping ships, is also a contractor by profession. He had been able to allocate the C&W Department to Muhmmad Ali Shah for obvious reasons.

Syed Masood Shah

Syed Masood Shah, who hails from Malakand district, has served as the inspector general police (IGP) in both the KP and Punjab provinces. Shah has also been the chairman of the Pakistan Tobacco Board. In the past, he has also been part of the Muslim League-Q but was not so active in politics. Shah is a close associate and relative of caretaker CM Azam Khan.

Hamid Shah

Hailing from Bannu, Hamid Shah is a contractor by profession while his father served as a senator. He is one of the close associates of Akram Khan Durrani, JUIF chief Mualana Fazlur Rehman’s close aide.

Shafiullah Khan

Shafiullah Khan belongs to the Brawal area of Upper Dir and is the cousin of former provincial president of the PPP, Najamuddin Khan.

Sawal Nazir

Sawal Nazir also belongs to Bannu and is a lawyer in the Peshawar High Court. He completed his primary education from University Public School and Edward College Peshawar. He is the brother-in-law of Ziad Akram Durranni, the son of Akram Khan Durrani

Fazal Elahi

Fazal Elahi, an industrialist hailing from Peshawar, has also served as a minister in the provincial caretaker cabinet of 2018 but he is not affiliated to any political party. He has served as the president of the KP Chamber of Commerce and Industry and is one of the close associates of KP Governor Ghulam Ali, who ensured his induction in the cabinet.