ISLAMABAD: Shehbaz Sharif’s stint as Prime Minister finally came to an end on Monday after Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar was sworn-in as the country’s eighth caretaker Prime Minister.
In a ceremony held at the Presidency, President Arif Alvi administered oath to the new PM. The ceremony was attended by outgoing PM Shehbaz, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, former National Assembly speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, the governors of the four provinces, the chief ministers of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, senior military officials among others.
On the occasion, both president and the outgoing PM congratulated the new premier.
Senator Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar to be caretaker PM
Previously, Kakar, the new caretaker PM, was elected as an independent senator from Balochistan province in March 2018. His tenure was to end in March 2024 before he stepped down recently after being picked as the interim premier.
According to an official statement, Kakar is also one of the founding members of Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) and was appointed as the central spokesperson of the party in 2018. While serving as senator, he was the Chairman of Senate Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development and as a member of the Business Advisory Committee, Finance and Revenue, Foreign Affairs, and Science and Technology. Earlier, he served as spokesman for the government of Balochistan from December 2015 to January 2018.
“An avid intellectual, with keen insight into the issues faced by Pakistan, particularly Balochistan, Kakar has been sharing his perspective at academic and policymaking platforms, both nationally and internationally. These include interactions with students and faculty members at Pakistan’s top-ranking universities, closed door sessions with the country’s policy makers, briefings to the country’s political and military elite, sessions on building the Balochistan narrative with the diplomatic corps based in Islamabad, as well as a significant number of nationally televised political talk shows,” the statement said.
Born in 1971, he hails from Muslim Bagh, Qila Saifullah district of Balochistan. Kakar holds a Master’s degree in Political Science and Sociology from the University of Balochistan, the statement said. “He is an alumnus of the prestigious National Security Workshop from the National Defence University, Islamabad. He is also Patron-in-Chief of the Voice of Balochistan, an independent perception building initiative he masterminded. Kakar is fluent in English, Urdu, Persian, Pashto, Balochi and Brahvi,” the statement added.
Kakar’s unexpected elevation as caretaker PM sprang a surprise — following consensus over his pick between Sharif and Raja Riaz, the former opposition leader in NA. Before Kakar’s elevation, former foreign secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani was regarded as favourite candidate for the interim premiership by many
Sharif, Kakar’s predecessor, was sworn in as PM on April 11 last year —following a successful no-confidence motion against Imran Khan. Sharif’s 16-month stint as PM saw serious allegations of rampant corruption, maladministration, poor governance, unprecedented curbs on media, victimisation of opposition leaders, political workers, and unbridled inflation.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023