(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-03-31 19:26

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's federal ministers were sworn in by President Pervez Musharraf at presidential house on Monday, marking the belated formation of the country's new cabinet.

Twenty-four Pakistani federal ministers who took oath are only the first batch of a coalition cabinet, which is expected to be expanded later in the following two phases.

The first group of cabinet members came after Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gillani on Saturday took an unanimous vote of confidence from the National Assembly and unveiled a 100-day program of his government's priorities.

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Gillani, from the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), was elected prime minister by the National Assembly on March 24 and sworn in the next day, but the formation of his cabinet had been held up over differences.

According to the agreement, the coalition partners would share the ministries in proportion to the National Assembly seats they won in the February 18 general elections.

The coalition, which also includes the Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) and two smaller partners, managed to send a list of the first batch of 24 nominees after a series of meetings.  

The first batch of ministers have 11 from the PPP, nine from the PML-N, two from the Awami National Party (ANP) and one each from the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-F (JUI-F) and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

Among the ministers, Shah Mehmood Qureshi is named Foreign Minister, Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar Defense Minister and Ishaq Dar Finance Minister.