PM Imran Khan decides to remove Asad Umar as finance minister

ISLAMABAD: After the Eight months of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government took over the reins of the country. PM Imran Khan is mulling over reshuffling his cabinet in light of the performance of federal ministers, ARY News reported.

Sources privy to this development say the prime minister will reshuffle the portfolios of five ministers, including Finance Minister Asad Umar, Petroleum Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan and State Minister for Interior Shehryar Afridi.

Asad Umar will be removed as finance minister and entrusted the portfolio of petroleum minister, whereas Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Brigadier (retd) Ijaz Shah will replace Shehryar Afridi.

Minister for Pakistan Railways Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, Minister of Energy Umar Ayoub Khan, and Federal Minister for Communications and Postal Services Murad Saeed fared better than other ministers and won’t be reshuffled.

Last month, PM Imran Khan had decided to review the performances of all federal ministries and cabinet divisions of the governments on a quarterly basis, for which a notice was also sent to all federal secretaries from the Prime Minister’s Office.

The notification cited the last meeting of November under the chairmanship of prime minister, wherein all federal secretaries had presented the short-term as well as long-term targets of their respective cabinet divisions and ministries.

In order to review the performances against the parameters discussed and set during the last meeting, a review session has now been called by the prime minister.

Fawad Chaudhry refutes rumors of PM removing Asad Umar from the finance ministry.

The information minister Fawad Chaudhry took to his Twitter account and wrote that changing ministers is Prime Minister Imran Khan’s discretionary right. “There is no truth to reports circulating regarding changes in the cabinet,” Chaudhry further said.

The Central Head of Public Relations of PTI Azhar Laghari had also rejected the rumors and wrote on his Twitter account, “No such decision to change Ministries and their portfolios”.