Senior lawyer Irfan Qadir was appointed as Special Assistant to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday.
According to a notification issued by the Cabinet Division, the position of Qadir will be equal to that of a federal minister. “The Prime Minister, in terms of rule a(6) of the Rules of Business, 1973, read with serial number 1A of Schedule V-A of the said Rules, has been pleased to appoint Mr. lrfan Qadir, as Special Assistant to the Prime Minister with the status of Federal Minister, with immediate effect,” the notification stated.
With the appointment, the federal cabinet swelled to whopping 73 members. The cabinet now consists of 34 federal ministers, seven state ministers, four advisers to the PM and 28 SAPMs.
Last week, the prime minister had appointed eight special assistants for himself, including Raza Rabbani, Irshad Ahmed Khan, Faisal Karim Kundi, Mahesh Kumar Malani, Faisal Karim Kundi, Sardar Salim Haider, Tasneem Ahmed Qureshi and Muhammad Ali Shah Bacha.
