PML-N Government Expands Federal Cabinet With 27 New Members: Who Joined, Why and What the Constitution Allows
On 27 February 2025 Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif doubled the size of his cabinet in a single afternoon. This plain-English guide lists who was sworn in, explains the difference between a minister, a minister of state, an adviser and a special assistant, and sets out the limits the Constitution places on them all.
About this article: It was prepared with the help of AI tools from public sources and is being reviewed by our editors. If you spot an error, please let us know so that we can correct it.
⚡ The short answer
On 27 February 2025, almost a year after taking office, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif enlarged his cabinet. Twenty-seven people took the oath at the President’s House in one ceremony: new federal ministers, new ministers of state and new advisers. Four special assistants were appointed alongside. The cabinet roughly doubled, to about fifty. The government said a team that had been deliberately small now needed more hands. Critics pointed out that the same government was promising to shrink the state.
- ✅ Date: 27 February 2025
- ✅ Sworn in: 27 (ministers, ministers of state and advisers)
- ✅ Total afterwards: reported as 46 to 51, depending on who is counted
- ⚠️ The Constitution caps ministers at 11 per cent of Parliament
What happened
For its first year the government elected in 2024 ran with an unusually small cabinet. The prime minister had spoken of austerity. Several important ministries were held by one person doubling up, or by the prime minister himself.
That changed in an afternoon. On 27 February 2025 the Cabinet Division issued a notification, and the new members were sworn in by the president the same day.
A cabinet tells you two things: who will run the ministries, and whom the prime minister needs to keep happy. The second list is usually longer than the first.
Who was sworn in
The names below follow the official notification as summarised in the press. Spellings vary between outlets.
Federal ministers
| Name | Notes |
|---|---|
| Tariq Fazal Chaudhry | PML-N, Islamabad |
| Ali Pervaiz Malik | Promoted from minister of state |
| Aurangzeb Khan Khichi | PML-N, Punjab |
| Khalid Hussain Magsi | Balochistan Awami Party |
| Muhammad Hanif Abbasi | PML-N, Rawalpindi |
| Muhammad Mueen Wattoo | PML-N, Punjab |
| Muhammad Junaid Anwar | PML-N, Punjab |
| Muhammad Raza Hayat Harraj | PML-N, Punjab |
| Sardar Muhammad Yousaf | PML-N, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa |
| Shaza Fatima Khawaja | Promoted from minister of state |
| Rana Mubashar Iqbal | PML-N, Lahore |
| Syed Mustafa Kamal | Muttahida Qaumi Movement (Pakistan), Karachi |
Ministers of state
| Name |
|---|
| Malik Rasheed Ahmad Khan |
| Abdul Rehman Khan Kanju |
| Aqeel Malik |
| Bilal Azhar Kayani |
| Kesoo Mal Kheal Das (also known as Kheal Das Kohistani) |
| Mohammad Awn Saqlain |
| Mukhtar Ahmad Malik |
| Talal Chaudhry |
| Wajiha Qamar |
Advisers and special assistants
| Role | Names |
|---|---|
| Advisers to the prime minister | Tauqir Hussain Shah, Muhammad Ali, Pervez Khattak |
| Special assistants | Haroon Akhtar, Huzaifa Rehman, Mubarak Zeb, Talha Burki |
Some reports name three further people as taking oath then or shortly after, which is why totals of 13 ministers and 11 ministers of state also appear.
Faces worth noticing
- Pervez Khattak was once chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and defence minister under Imran Khan. He left that party in 2023. His appointment as an adviser was the day’s most remarked-upon.
- Syed Mustafa Kamal is a former mayor of Karachi. His inclusion gave the Karachi-based coalition partner a second senior seat.
- Hanif Abbasi and Talal Chaudhry are long-standing PML-N loyalists who had been outside office.
- Shaza Fatima Khawaja and Wajiha Qamar were among very few women in the enlarged team.
Why the numbers differ
Readers who compare reports will find the cabinet’s size given as 46, 50, 51 and, later, 54. All can be right. It depends on who is counted.
| What is counted | Rough total after 27 February 2025 |
|---|---|
| Federal ministers and ministers of state only | About 40 to 43 |
| The above plus advisers | About 46 |
| The above plus special assistants | About 50 or 51 |
Strictly, only federal ministers and ministers of state are “the Cabinet” in the constitutional sense. Advisers attend its meetings. Special assistants are another category again. News reports rarely make the distinction.
Four kinds of member
| Federal minister | Minister of state | Adviser | Special assistant | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Must be a member of Parliament? | Yes, or become one within six months | Yes, or become one within six months | No | No |
| Appointed by | The president, on the prime minister’s advice | The same | The same | The prime minister |
| In charge of a ministry? | Usually | Assists a minister, or runs a smaller division | Sometimes, in practice | Sometimes, in practice |
| Votes in Parliament? | If a member of that house | If a member of that house | No | No |
| Limit on numbers | Within the 11 per cent cap | Within the 11 per cent cap | Five | None in the Constitution |
Advisers and special assistants are how a prime minister brings in people who were not elected: a technocrat to run finance or privatisation, or a politician who lost his seat.
What the Constitution says
Three articles govern the cabinet.
- Article 91 creates a cabinet of ministers, headed by the prime minister, to aid and advise the president. It says the cabinet is collectively responsible to both houses of Parliament.
- Article 92 provides for the appointment of federal ministers and ministers of state from among members of Parliament. It says that no more than a quarter of the ministers may come from the Senate. And it sets the cap.
- Article 93 allows up to five advisers.
The 11 per cent rule
The cap was added by the 18th Amendment in 2010, after years in which cabinets had swollen to sixty members and more.
It says that the total number of ministers and ministers of state shall not exceed 11 per cent of the total membership of Parliament.
| Step | Figure |
|---|---|
| Members of the National Assembly | 336 |
| Members of the Senate | 96 |
| Total membership of Parliament | 432 |
| 11 per cent of that | About 47 |
After the expansion of February 2025 the number of ministers and ministers of state was within that limit, but not far below it.
💡 Tip: the cap has a loophole
The limit counts ministers and ministers of state. It does not count special assistants, of whom the Constitution says nothing at all, and advisers have their own separate limit of five. A prime minister who has reached the cap can therefore go on appointing special assistants, give them the status of a minister and put them in charge of a division. Courts have at times questioned how much executive power such appointees may properly hold. Read more about how Parliament checks the government in our explainers on the National Assembly and the Senate.
How a cabinet actually works
A list of names says little about what these people do. The machinery is worth a few paragraphs.
The meeting. The cabinet usually meets once a week in the Prime Minister’s Office, with the prime minister in the chair. Ministers do not arrive with ideas of their own. They arrive with summaries: formal papers prepared by their ministries, circulated in advance and vetted by the Cabinet Division, the small department that acts as the cabinet’s secretariat.
The committees. Most real decisions are taken in smaller groups and merely confirmed by the full cabinet.
| Committee | What it decides |
|---|---|
| Economic Coordination Committee | Prices, subsidies, imports and exports, and urgent spending |
| Committee on Energy | Power and gas |
| Committee on Privatisation | The sale of state-owned companies |
| Committee on Legislative Cases | Draft laws before they go to Parliament |
| Committee on State-Owned Enterprises | The management of public companies |
Collective responsibility. Once the cabinet decides, every minister is bound to defend the decision in public, whatever he argued in private. A minister who cannot do so is expected to resign.
The rule that changed things. For decades prime ministers took major decisions alone and informed the cabinet afterwards. In 2016 the Supreme Court ruled that the “Federal Government” named in the Constitution means the prime minister and the cabinet together. Since then taxes, appointments and many other matters need the cabinet’s formal approval. That ruling is one practical reason why a prime minister wants a cabinet he can rely on.
How Parliament keeps watch on ministers
Being sworn in gives a minister power. It also, in theory, makes him answerable.
- Question hour. At the start of most sittings, members put written and spoken questions to ministers about their departments. A minister who is absent or unprepared is noted by the chair.
- Calling-attention notices. A member can force a minister to make a statement on a matter of urgent public concern.
- Standing committees. Each ministry is shadowed by a committee of members, which can summon the minister and his officials, examine spending and bills, and publish reports.
- The budget. Every ministry’s grant must be voted each June.
- No confidence. Parliament cannot remove an individual minister. It can remove the prime minister, and the whole cabinet falls with him.
In practice the commonest complaint from the chair in both houses is a simple one: that ministers do not turn up. A larger cabinet was meant, among other things, to end the excuse that there was nobody to answer.
What a minister is paid
Ministers’ pay and benefits are set by an Act of Parliament dating from 1975 and amended many times. A federal minister is entitled to a salary, an official residence or an allowance in its place, a car with fuel, staff, travel and medical cover. A minister of state receives slightly less. Advisers and special assistants are usually given the status of one or the other.
In March 2025, weeks after the expansion, the cabinet was reported to have approved a very large rise in its own members’ salaries, bringing them into line with an increase that members of Parliament had recently voted for themselves. Ministers argued that the old salary had not changed in years and was lower than a mid-ranking civil servant’s. The timing, on top of the expansion and at a moment when salaried workers were paying record taxes, was widely criticised.
Why then?
No single reason was given. Reporting at the time pointed to several.
1. The first year was over. The government had survived its most dangerous months. The economy had steadied. The prime minister could afford to turn to party management.
2. Members were restless. A governing party with dozens of experienced figures and a dozen posts has a problem. Backbenchers who are ignored do not turn up to vote.
3. Allies wanted places. The Karachi-based partner and the Balochistan party each gained a senior seat. The largest ally, the Pakistan Peoples Party, continued to stay out of the cabinet altogether, supporting the government from outside while holding the presidency and other posts.
4. Regions wanted faces. New members came from south Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Sindh’s Hindu community, as well as the party’s heartland in central Punjab.
5. Workload. Several ministries genuinely had no full-time minister.
The criticism
“Rightsizing” for others
The timing was awkward. For months the same government had been announcing a programme, agreed with the International Monetary Fund, to close or merge ministries, abolish tens of thousands of vacant posts and cut the cost of running the state. To enlarge the cabinet in the middle of that drew an obvious charge of double standards, from the opposition and from newspaper editorials alike.
Cost
Each minister brings a salary, an office, staff, vehicles and security. Government spokesmen replied that many new members had declined pay and perks, and that the direct cost of a minister is trivial beside the budget. Critics answered that the signal mattered more than the sum.
Reward, not reform
Opposition figures described the expansion as the distribution of prizes for loyalty. The government’s supporters said that every prime minister in a parliamentary system builds a cabinet to hold a majority together, and that this one had waited a year to do it.
⚠️ A larger cabinet is not automatically a worse one
It is easy to mock a big cabinet. The fairer test is what its members do. A ministry with no minister is run by civil servants answerable to no voter. A government that needs every vote must keep its members engaged. The real questions are whether the new ministers have real work, whether Parliament can question them, and whether the appointments were made on ability. Size alone answers none of these.
How it compares
| Government | Approximate peak size of cabinet, all categories |
|---|---|
| 2008 to 2013 | More than 60 ministers at one point, and more with advisers, before the cap took effect |
| 2013 to 2018 | About 50 |
| 2018 to 2022 | About 50 |
| 2022 to 2023 (thirteen-party coalition) | More than 80 |
| 2024 to early 2025 | About 25 |
| After February 2025 | About 50 |
On this measure the expansion returned the cabinet to the usual Pakistani size after an unusually lean year. It did not set a record.
And abroad
It is also worth comparing Pakistan with other parliamentary systems.
- India has a similar rule. A constitutional amendment of 2003 limits the council of ministers to 15 per cent of the lower house, which allows about eighty ministers at the centre. Pakistan’s cap, at 11 per cent of both houses together, is tighter.
- The United Kingdom has a cabinet of a little over twenty, but well over a hundred ministers in all once junior ranks are counted, and a law limits how many of them may be paid.
- Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have both had cabinets far larger than Pakistan’s in proportion to their parliaments.
By these standards a Pakistani cabinet of about fifty is not large. The difference is that in Pakistan each appointment is watched as a sign of who is in favour, because so much else about how power is shared goes unexplained.
Since then
- Further members were added during 2025. One report puts the total, counting all categories, at 54.
- Portfolios were reshuffled more than once.
- In November 2025 the governing coalition passed the 27th Amendment with a two-thirds majority, which it could not have done without keeping its members and allies together.
- The Pakistan Peoples Party remained outside the cabinet.
The present size of the cabinet was not confirmed for this article. The Cabinet Division publishes the current list.
✅ Key point
The expansion of February 2025 was less a change of policy than a change of season. A government that had spent its first year surviving turned to rewarding and binding its own side. The Constitution allows it, within limits written precisely because earlier governments went too far. Whether the country was better governed afterwards depends on what those twenty-seven people did with their offices, and that is a question for Parliament, the press and, in time, the voters.
Words used in this article
| Term | Plain meaning |
|---|---|
| Cabinet | The body of ministers, headed by the prime minister, that runs the government |
| Federal minister | A full member of the cabinet in charge of a ministry |
| Minister of state | A junior minister |
| Adviser | A person appointed to advise the prime minister, who need not be elected |
| Special assistant | An aide to the prime minister, often given a minister’s status |
| Portfolio | The ministry or subject a minister is responsible for |
| Notification | The formal written order announcing an appointment |
| Collective responsibility | The rule that all ministers stand by cabinet decisions |
| Reshuffle | A change in who holds which portfolio |
| Rightsizing | The government’s term for reducing the number of ministries and posts |
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 2010 | The 18th Amendment caps the cabinet at 11 per cent of Parliament |
| 8 February 2024 | General election |
| March 2024 | Shehbaz Sharif becomes prime minister; a small cabinet is sworn in |
| 2024 | A “rightsizing” programme is announced |
| 27 February 2025 | 27 new members take the oath |
| During 2025 | Further additions and reshuffles |
| November 2025 | 27th Amendment passed |
For how a prime minister can lose office, read our explainer on the vote of no confidence.
Understand how Pakistan's government works
PoliticsPK explains who is who, how the system works and what changes, without the noise.
More in Government & Institutions Politics Explained Latest from PoliticsPK
Frequently asked questions
❓ When was Pakistan’s federal cabinet expanded in 2025?
On 27 February 2025, when 27 new members took the oath at the President’s House.
❓ How many ministers are in Pakistan’s federal cabinet?
After the February 2025 expansion the total was reported as between 46 and 51, depending on whether advisers and special assistants were counted. Later reports give a higher figure. The current list is published by the Cabinet Division.
❓ Is there a limit on the size of the cabinet?
Yes. Under Article 92 of the Constitution, ministers and ministers of state together may not exceed 11 per cent of the total membership of Parliament, which works out at about 47.
❓ What is the difference between a federal minister and a minister of state?
A federal minister is a full cabinet member in charge of a ministry. A minister of state is junior, and usually assists a minister or runs a smaller division.
❓ What is a special assistant to the prime minister?
An aide appointed by the prime minister who need not be a member of Parliament. The Constitution sets no limit on their number.
❓ How many advisers can the prime minister have?
Up to five, under Article 93.
❓ Is the Pakistan Peoples Party in the cabinet?
No, as far as this article could establish. It supports the government in Parliament but has not taken ministries.
❓ Why was the cabinet expanded?
Reports at the time pointed to pressure from the governing party’s own members, the wish to give allies and regions a place, and ministries without full-time ministers.
❓ Why was the expansion criticised?
Because it came while the government was promising to reduce the size and cost of the state.
Sources
- ARY News, “PM Shehbaz expands federal cabinet as 27 new members take oath” — 27 February 2025.
- Daily Pakistan, “PML-N expands federal cabinet to 46 members with inclusion of coalition partners” — 27 February 2025.
- Nukta, “Pakistan expands federal cabinet” — February 2025.
- Nukta, “Pakistan’s growing cabinet: who pays the price?” — 2025.
- The Express Tribune, “Cabinet expansion expected with PML-N, MQM-P members” — February 2025.
- Aaj English, “Shehbaz’s cabinet expands to 29 members, 8 new ministers to take oath tomorrow” — February 2025.
- Cabinet Division, Government of Pakistan — for the notification and the current list of ministers.
