File photo of Ishaq Dar, courtesy PID
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday appointed Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar to the post of Deputy Prime Minister of Pakistan with “immediate effect” and until further orders.
“The Prime Minister has been pleased to designate Mr. Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, as Deputy Prime Minister with immediate effect and until further orders,” read a notification issued by the Cabinet Division. The notification was issued while Dar accompanies Sharif at the World Economic Forum (WEF)’s special meeting in Saudi Arabia.
A veteran politician, the 73-year-old Dar is a relative and confidant of the Sharifs and has previously served as finance minister four separate times. He was re-elected to the Senate from Islamabad earlier this month and has been serving as foreign minister since the incumbent government came into power following the Feb. 8 general elections.
While there is no constitutional provision for the post of deputy prime minister, the position has been used in the past to designate seniority within the government machinery. In 2012, then-Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid leader Pervaiz Elahi was appointed the deputy prime minister by then-prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani in light of an alliance between the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party and the PMLQ.
Independent observers have pointed to Dar’s appointment as PMLN leader Nawaz Sharif re-asserting his authority, as the foreign minister is deemed a key aide of the former prime minister, particularly in financial matters. It occurs amidst rumblings of discontent among some PMLN leaders, as those who were not elected in the Feb. 8 elections offer opposing narratives to those currently in government.
Last week, a meeting of the PMLN leadership chaired by the party’s Punjab President Rana Sanaullah requested Nawaz to resume the party presidency, replacing Shehbaz Sharif, who is reportedly busy focusing on governance and cannot dedicate the time and effort required for politicking.