Ladies In Power: Pakistan's Drift In Democracy Gives Rise To Five Women Cabinet Ministers

The new federal Pakistan Cabinet took oath earlier on Tuesday (April 19). This neoteric shift of powers to the hands of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) gave rise to five women in the most influential positions of the government.

This new, much-needed drift is being celebrated cause the new cabinet holds a huge women representation. The former cabinet of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lacked and was male-dominated.

Who Are The New Key Cabinet Members?

Under the leadership of the newly elected PM Shehbaz Sharif, the PPP has its prime positions being led by five women who've made all the buzz in news media and are now everywhere in the internet discussions.

The cabinet holds three federal ministers and two state ministers, but who are these five women, and what are the ministries they are heading? Let's know about them;

Marriyum Aurangzeb

Marriyum Aurangzeb, the former Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) (PML-N) government member, has been delegated a role she expertise in, the Ministry of (IB) Information and Broadcasting.

After her master's degree in development and environmental policy from the UK, Aurangzeb went to PML-N's camp in 2013 and became a member of the National Assembly after getting the party's reserved women's seat.

In 2016, she was the minister for Broadcasting and Information in PM Nawaz Sharif's cabinet. Lately, she has been quite vocal about the rights of news media and has shown her strong stance on ending the "censorship on Pakistan's journalism".

Sherry Rehman

On the list, the cabinet has a known & very influential minister on PPP's side. A Nishan-i-Imtiaz recipient, Pakistan's first woman Senate opposition leader, vice-president of the PPP, and the list of accomplishments goes on while Sherry Rehman is heading Pakistan's climate change action as federal minister.

After completing her master's in the UK, she kickstarted her journalism career with The Daily Star and even climbed the corporate ladder as the editor-in-chief of The Herald.

Rehman got into politics in 2002 after bagging a reserved women's seat in PPP. She has governed various eminent positions in the party like the president of policy planning, the foreign relations committee, and a central information secretary.

Shazia Atta Marri

Shazia Marri has been appointed as the information minister for Sindh province in Pakistan's new cabinet. Marri came to the National Assembly on a reserved women's seat in 2013.

She holds a solid political background as her grandfather Ali Mohammad Marri and father, Ata Mohammad Marri, were eminent members of the Sindh Assembly. Her mother, Perveen Ata Marri, was an MPA, too; all of this depicts Marri already having strong deep roots in Pakistan's political environment.

Hina Rabbani Khar

Hina Rabbani Khar is appointed as the state minister for Foreign Affairs in the newly formed PPP cabinet. At the age of 34 in 2011, Khar was the first woman and Pakistan's youngest foreign minister.

In her short term of two years, she came out with a remarkable foreign policy that focused on a "regional pivot" to establish healthy relationships with neighbouring countries, India and Afghanistan.

Aisha Ghaus Pasha

In the new cabinet of PPP, Aisha Ghaus Pasha has been appointed as a state minister. The former finance minister of Punjab and PML-N legislator Pasha was nominated for the seat of the NA in 2018.

Is Bilawal Bhutto Excluded?

In the end, one more thing that's becoming a significant piece of discussion is Bilawal Bhutto. PPP's chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was earlier rumoured as the next foreign minister, didn't join the cabinet.

The New Indian Express reported that Zardari was seen at the Oath ceremony and speculated that he might join the cabinet soon.

Also Read: Here Are Six Policies That Ensured PM Modi Become An Instant Hit Amongst Indian Women