Islamabad, Mar 29: PML-N leader and former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif is learnt to have distributed key ministries given to his party in the Gilani cabinet among his "relatives and friends".

Nawaz has given at least two most lucrative ministries to his close relatives. The most powerful Ministry of Finance will be headed by Senator Ishaq Dar, who happens to be the father-in-law of Sharif's daughter.

Another close relative is MNA Abid Sher, who is being proposed for the slot of minister for commerce. The rest of seven proposed ministers are the old loyalists of Nawaz and he has preferred them over the rest.

The party has however defended Nawaz's decision. One PML-N leader said all of them were top party leaders who had proved their worth in testing times and they were the bright parliamentarians who had the abilities to run the ministries in difficult times.

He did not agree that these nominations were made on the basis of "family or friends". "Could you term the choice of Ishaq Dar wrong as he is an able man?" he asked.

The PML-N has been given all the key ministries which deal with the financial and economic side of the government such as Finance, Commerce, Agriculture, Petroleum, Communications, Planning and Development, and Ports and Shipping. The PPP has been content with Information, Interior, Foreign Affairs and Defence.

Interestingly, Tehmina Daultana who had faced the wrath of the military regime after the departure of the Sharif family from Pakistan in 2000, is not sure of getting a cabinet berth.