Former Finance Minister and Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) leader Ishaq Dar is ready to take charge of the finance ministry on September 27 (Tuesday), reports Geo News.
Currently, Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif is in London, where he held a meeting with Nawaz Sharif and Nawaz’s close aide Dar, where the decision took place.
The incumbent Finance Minister Miftah Ismail will continue to work with the government after leaving his post as Finance Minister.
It is pertinent to mention that Ismail is an unelected member and thus cannot continue in office for more than six months. He took charge of the ministry in April.
Earlier, Dar, himself said that he would take oath as a Senator immediately after his return
Dar is set to come back to Pakistan next week. The PML-N leader has been living in London since 2017 to receive medical treatment. He served as a federal minister of finance four times between 1998 and 2017.
The former finance minister was elected as a PML-N senator on a technocrat seat in the Senate election on March 3, 2018. He is considered to be quite close to PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif.
Rana Sanaullah hints at Ishaq Dar becoming finance minister again
Prior to this, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah hinted a Dar becoming finance minister once again, saying that the senator “can assume the finance ministry”.
Talking about the possibility on Geo News‘ programme Naya Pakistan, Rana said, “There is no problem for him to become a finance minister. However, the PML-N has not made any decision so far in this regard.”
According to Sanaullah, the government will definitely consult Ishaq on economic matters as he is experienced and a senior leader.
When asked about Miftah Ismail, the minister said that he doesn’t have a problem. “He is ready to work with the party with or without ministry”, he stressed
Is Ishaq Dar coming back to Pakistan?
An accountability court on Friday, September 23, suspended the arrest warrant against Dar and dismissed orders for arrest upon his arrival in Pakistan.
Accountability court judge Mohammad Bashir issued the orders, stating that once Dar returns to Pakistan, the court will decide whether it should revoke his arrest orders permanently or not.
“We will consider permanently suspending Dar’s arrest warrants once he appears before the court in person,” the judge added.
In 2017, an accountability court, while hearing a corruption reference against Dar, declared him a proclaimed offender due to his continued absence from the proceedings.
However, Dar had not taken oath as a senator since 2017. The accountability court had declared Dar an absconder in a corruption reference.
