Members of Pakistani Interim Cabinet Take Oath Of Office

Members of the Pakistani interim government took the oath of office on Friday in the country’s capital of Islamabad, local media reported.

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif stepped down on July 28, following the Supreme Court’s decision to remove him from office after a nearly year-long corruption investigation into his family.

The ruling Pakistan Muslim League party decided to appoint his brother, Shehbaz Sharif, as the new prime minister.

The interim government will be headed by Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Abbasi for 45 days until Sharif is officially elected in the parliamentary by-election.

The oath was administered by Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain, the Dawn media outlet reported.

Most members of the former government, headed by ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, retained their positions, but some reshuffling also took place.

Former Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif took the foreign minister position, which was previously occupied by Sharif himself.

Former Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal will reportedly head the Interior Ministry. Ex-Commerce Minister Khurram Dastagir Khan will become the new defense minister.

Nawaz Sharif became the second prime minister to lose his post over his links to the Panama Papers.

In 2016, Prime Minister of Iceland Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson was forced to resign shortly after his wife’s links to an offshore company were revealed as part of the scandal.

The Panama Papers, leaked in April 2016, revealed that Sharif’s two sons and daughter owned at least three offshore companies registered in the British Virgin Islands.(Sputnik/NAN)