The federal government has decided to replace Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh with Federal Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar.

Hafeez Shaikh shall be replaced by Hammad Azhar because according to Article 91 (9) of the constitution, a person who is not part of the parliament can be minister for only six months.

However, to become a minister again, the individual should be elected to one of the two houses of parliament, Senate or National Assembly.

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Hafeez Shaikh had a period of six months to be elected as a member of the assembly. For that purpose, the ruling party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chose Hafeez as a candidate for Senate elections, which he could not win. Therefore, the government has selected Hammad Azhar as his replacement.

Hafeez had been serving as an advisor to Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan on finance before he was appointed federal minister.

He was given the portfolio after the Islamabad High Court ruled that unelected advisors and special assistants cannot head government committees.

Muhammad Hammad Azhar has held his current portfolio since April 6, 2020. Previously, he served as Federal Minister for Economic Affairs from July 10, 2019 till April 5, 2020.

PM Imran reportedly conveyed to Hafeez Shaikh to step down from his role, and a notification in this regard is also expected to be released soon.

Hammad Azhar tweeted that he is “honoured to be entrusted with the additional charge of Finance by the Prime Minister”.