ISLAMABAD, March 11 (Xinhua) -- A 19-member federal cabinet of newly-elected Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif took the oath on Monday during a ceremony held at the President House in the capital city of Islamabad.
President Asif Ali Zardari administered the oath to the cabinet members that included 18 federal ministers, and one minister of state, according to a statement issued by the President House.
Earlier, the prime minister recommended 19 names to the president to be inducted into the federal cabinet, the majority of them from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, according to a summary forwarded to the President House.
The Pakistan Peoples Party, a major political party of the country's newly formed coalition government, is not the part of the federal cabinet as decided by the party. However, members of other allied political parties including the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan and the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party also took the oath as federal ministers.
The new cabinet includes members of the National Assembly, senators as well as technocrats.
The portfolios for the cabinet members are expected to be announced later, according to government officials.
Meanwhile, Sharif summoned the first meeting of the cabinet on Monday evening following the oath-taking ceremony. ■
