Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has conferred Federal Minister status upon Maulana Fazlur Rehman. A cabinet division’s notification was issued in this respect. The notification says, “In exercise of the powers conferred by rule 15(1)(g) read with serial No 1A of schedule-V-A of the Rules of Business 1973, the prime minister has been pleased to confer with immediate effect the status of federal minister on Maulana Fazlur Rehman, MNA.”

Maulana Fazlur Rehman is the head of Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam (Fazal) and is a strong ally of PML(N) in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. Maulana is also a staunch opponent of PTI’s Imran Khan whose party rules KPK with Jamaat-e-Islami in a coalition government. Moreover, PTI and PML(N) are at loggerheads with each other over different issues, such as electoral reforms, electricity prices and load shedding, and different other critical issues. This way Maulana becomes a natural ally of Nawaz Sharif to counter PTI power in KPK.