Kabul, December 19: Facing huge pressure for reforms, Afghan President Hamid Karzai is to present his new cabinet lineup to lawmakers on Saturday.
According to parliamentary officials on Friday, Karzai will dismiss half of the current ministers, while maintaining top technocrats in key ministries.
Karzai is facing intense pressure from Western leaders who have threatened him to hold back aid unless he tackles corruption.
Karzai’s proposed government line-up, which still needs to be debated and endorsed by parliament, does not include any figures from the opposition.
Unofficial reports say, the ministers of interior, defense, education, health, agriculture and finance are to retain their jobs.
But, Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta, would stay in his post only until a London conference on Afghanistan in January.
——Agencies