Former finance minister Miftah Ismail
Finance Minister Miftah Ismail on Sunday announced he verbally resigned from his position during a meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) leader Nawaz Sharif in London, adding he will formally tender his resignation upon his return to Islamabad.
“In a meeting with Mian Nawaz Sharif and P.M. Shehbaz Sharif today, I have verbally resigned as finance minister,” he wrote in a posting on Twitter Sunday night. “I will tender a formal resignation upon reaching Pakistan. It’s been an honor to serve twice as finance minister. Pakistan Paindabad,” he added.
According to a PMLN spokesperson, Ismail tendered his resignation to Nawaz and the prime minister during their meeting. He also thanked the PMLN leaders for giving him a chance to lead the Finance Ministry, they added.
The spokesperson said Nawaz Sharif had praised Ismail’s efforts of the past five months, stressing that he had performed his duties during a particularly difficult time for Pakistan’s economy. They said that Ismail would continue to work with the incumbent government, adding that he would be replaced as finance minister by Ishaq Dar, who is set to return to Pakistan this week and take oath of office as senator.
In a brief interview with daily Dawn, Ismail confirmed his resignation and said that he would take some time with his family before returning to help the government in Islamabad. However, he maintained, he would not be taking any new ministerial position.
There had hints of Ismail’s departure for several months, with him telling the audience at an event earlier this month that even though the government had 13 months to deliver on its promises, he had even less time than that. In recent weeks, there has also been a surge in reports of discontent among the PMLN leadership due to the “difficult decisions” that Ismail had to take to revive a stalled IMF bailout program, with PMLN leaders Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz both lamenting the loss of political capital that the party has had to face.
Dar’s return, per the PMLN, is aimed at reversing this trend and ensuring relief to the masses, especially in terms of inflations and fuel prices. The former finance minister has been in London since October 2017 and has yet to take oath of office as senator.