PESHAWAR, April 1: The 19-member NWFP cabinet is set to take oath at 10am here at the Governor’s House on Wednesday.

Awami National Party announced the names of its 12-nominees along with their departments on March 6, apparently to avoid belated demands by its coalition partners in the province. The ministers include Bashir Ahmed Bilour (Local Government and Rural Development), Arbab Ayub Jan (Agriculture), Mian Iftikhar Hussain (Education), Zarshaid Khan (Zakat and Usher), Wajid Ali Khan (Forest, Environment and Wildlife), Ayub Khan Asharay (Science and Technology), Arshad Abdullah (Lawa and Parliamentary Affairs), Sardar Hussain Babak (Information), Mian Nisar Gul (Prisons), Syed Aqil Shah (Sports, Tourism and Culture), Nimroz Khan (Auqaf and Haj) and Sitara Imran (Social Welfare).

Mr Bilour is a former provincial president of ANP, who had won every provincial election from Peshawar city. He was one of the contenders for the slot of chief minister, but his party decided in favour of Amir Haider Khan Hoti, a grand son of Wali Khan from Mardan.

Mr Ayub is a nephew of diehard nationalist Afzal Khan Lala, a former federal minister and a central leader of ANP. His family had borne the brunt of the recent violence in the Taliban-influenced parts of Swat district.

Arbab Ayub Jan is also a veteran parliamentarian from rural belt of the district. He is a prominent agriculturist. He had served as provincial minister in the past.

Mian Iftikhar Hussain is a former president of Pakhtun Students Federation (PkSF), a student wing of the ANP. At present, he is in charge of the student affairs and provincial general secretary of the party. He hails from Pabbi.

Wajid Ali Khan hails from Swat. He had been PkSF activist since his student life. He is a lawyer by profession. He had won his seat second time from the Swat Valley. He too was one of the contenders for the slot of chief minister.

Mian Nisar Gul is a new entrant in the party, but he rose to importance after defeating Fareed Khan Toofan, a dissident of the ANP in Karak. He is a contractor by profession.

Syed Aqil Shah is prominent hotelier. He heads a number of sports organisations across the province. His father, late Lala Ayub, was a trusted comrade of Wali Khan.

Mr Babak, a young man from Buner, is an activist of the party. He had obtained master degree in Journalism. Sitara Imran is a founding member of the Woman Action Forum in the province. She had been struggling for women rights for many years.

Pakistan People’s Party has also announced the names of its seven ministers hailing from different districts of the province.

They include PPP provincial chief Rahimdad Khan (Planning and Development), PPP Peshawar division chief Syed Zahir Ali Shah (Health), PPP Nowshera district chief Liaquat Ali Shabab (Excise and Taxation), Mohammad Humayun Khan from Malakand (Irrigation and Power), Salim Khan from Chitral (Population Welfare), Syed Ahmed Hussain Shah (Industries and Mineral Department) and Mehmood Zeb Khan from Lower Dir (Food).

Engineer-turned-politician, Mr Humayun is son of former provincial assembly speaker and a federal minister, late Mohammad Hanif Khan. He and his other colleagues bagged two provincial and one national assembly seat from the district.

Rahimdad Khan is an old party worker. He had also served as deputy speaker of the NWFP assembly in the past. Mehmood Zeb, a scion of the last ruling family of Dir, is a close relative of Rahimdad. He is a novice in political filed.

Zahir Ali Shah represents urban section of the PPP. He belongs to an old business family of Peshawar. His father, late Syed Zafar Ali Shah, contested against Haji Ghulam Ahmed Bilour on NA-I, Peshawar in 1993 and won the seat. Mr Shah himself bagged his present seat second time.Liaquat Shabab is a committed party worker in Nowshera. He hails from a middle-class family. He is a new entrant to the parliamentary politics. Salim Khan too is an old party worker. He had served as deputy nazim of Chitral in the past.

Sher Azam is a former government servant. He hails from Bannu. Being an independent candidate, he defeated a prominent ANP leader Baz Mohammad Khan. He joined PPP soon after the official notification of the results.

Mr Shuja has also won his seat as an independent candidate from Mansehra and joined PPP. Last time, he contested as independent candidate and after winning the seat he joined MMA. This time he joined PPP.

Syed Ahmed Hussain Shah is son of a former provincial minister, Syed Mzzamal Shah of Kaghan. He is an old PPP worker.

Earlier, two independent MPAs, Mohammad Shuja Khan from Mansehra and Sher Azam Wazir from Bannu, who had joined PPP, were told that their names had been placed on the list of ministers, but later PPP high command dropped their names.