‘Bilawal To Take Oath As Pak Foreign Minister Soon’

Pakistan Peoples Party’s Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will take the oath as the Foreign Minister in one or two days, PPP’s leader Zaman Kaira confirmed on Saturday.

While conversing with journalists in London, Kaira revealed that Bilawal has left for Pakistan after holding two meetings with Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) leader Nawaz Sharif to exchange views on political matters, Geo TV reported.

Former Prime Minister and PPP Chairman, in their last meeting, discussed ways forward after a “constitutional victory for democracy, the rule of law and supremacy of parliament” and agree to work closely to “repair the rot across the board,” read a joint statement.

Notably, PML-N and PPP are the two key alliances of the ruling coaling government, Geo TV reported.

In the meeting, both the party’s leaders also discussed the roadmap for the future with the consensus of all democratic forces and the unfinished business left on the “Charter of Democracy”.

“It was also agreed that high-level summitry is needed to brainstorm the path ahead for a new charter,” read the statement.

Earlier, there was speculation that PPP is seeking more stake in the government but the sources confirmed that Bilawal and Nawaz did not discuss anything related to the posts of Senate, Governor Punjab or Presidency, according to Geo TV.

The three-hour-long meeting between the PML-N leader and PPP chairman was held in two parts. In the first part, Bilawal and Nawaz held a one-on-one meeting, while in the second half, other senior leaders of both parties also joined their leaders.

Meanwhile, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb also confirmed that the PPP chairman would take the oath after he returns to Pakistan, reported Geo TV.

Earlier, on Friday, Pakistan President Arif Alvi administered the oath to three new federal ministers and one minister of state for the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s cabinet at the Aiwan-i-Sadr in Islamabad.

On Tuesday, 33 lawmakers were inducted into the new PM’s cabinet after they were sworn in by Acting President Sadiq Sanjrani in the absence of the president, who had earlier refused to administer the oath to the lawmakers.

Although the oath was taken by 33 lawmakers, a notification issued by the country’s Cabinet Division carried the names of 26 federal ministers and two ministers of state, Dawn newspaper reported. (ANI)