Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s new 13-member cabinet officially took oath on Friday at a ceremony held at the Governor House in Peshawar, marking a new political chapter under Chief Minister Sohail Afridi’s leadership.

The new KP cabinet formation, comprising 10 ministers, two advisers, and one special assistant, comes after weeks of anticipation and political maneuvering. KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi administered the oath to the newly appointed members, including Mina Khan, Fazal Shakoor, Faisal Turkai, Aaqibullah, Arshad Ayub Khan, Aftab Alam, Dr Amjad, Khaliq-ur-Rehman, Riaz Khan, and Syed Fakhar Jehan. Their portfolios will be announced soon.

In addition, Muzammil Aslam and Taj Muhammad Tarand were sworn in as advisers to the chief minister, while Shafeeullah Jan took oath as a special assistant.

Interestingly, Afridi’s new KP cabinet formation is much smaller than that of his predecessor Ali Amin Gandapur, whose 33-member team was later trimmed down after a reshuffle.

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Sohail Afridi, who replaced Gandapur as chief minister earlier this month, secured 90 votes during the assembly session held on October 13 — a session boycotted by the JUI-F, PML-N, and PPP. His rise came after PTI founder Imran Khan, currently imprisoned in Adiala Jail, directed him to move forward with forming a cabinet.

However, the chief minister’s repeated attempts to meet Khan for guidance hit a roadblock. Despite the Islamabad High Court’s orders allowing the meeting, Afridi was denied permission four times. On October 23, he even staged a brief sit-in outside Adiala Jail after being refused entry.

Afridi had maintained that he wanted to consult Khan to ensure the cabinet reflected the PTI founder’s vision for governance in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.