'Undermining Dar': Miftah responds to PM Shehbaz's remarks

ISLAMABAD: Former finance minister Miftah Ismail has defended his criticism of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, saying that he is not in the business of undermining anyone. 

He further added he was "constrained" to speak only the truth, he said in a brief chat with The News late Friday evening.

Furthermore, Miftah said he couldn't hear Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif properly when he spoke about those "out to undermine" Dar.

In his address to the party's general council meeting on Friday, the PM had, without naming anyone, mentioned that people within the party, who are criticising Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, have no right to remain part of the PML-N.

Miftah had served the PML-N government as the finance minister twice, first in 2017 and again when the incumbent government assumed office in April last year.

On both occasions, he wasn't a member of any house of the parliament but worked as a federal minister.

However, in September last year, Dar replaced Miftah as the finance minister.

When his attention was drawn towards the prime minister's remarks about the criticism of Dar, he said he had no clue about it.

"Why did he say it and who he was pointing to, I have no idea." Miftah maintained.

However, Miftah has been very vocal in his criticism of his successor.

On June 9, he said that the recently revealed budget 2023-24 is in line with the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) demands and not very expansionary.

But termed the budget "unsustainable".

Moreover, referring to Dar's statement in Geo News' programme 'Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada' on Thursday, Miftah said that geopolitics was not invented in September last year in relation to dealing with the IMF.

"It is always happening. The Ministry of Finance should first decide whether we want to do the IMF program or not."

Absent Abbasi

Moreover, sources told The News that former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi did not attend Friday's PML-N general council meeting.

On the one hand, the sources hinted that PML-N stalwart Abbasi and his close buddy Miftah have no plan to part ways with Nawaz Sharif-led PML-N.

However, well-placed sources close to Abbasi — who had cooperated in laying the foundation of "Reimagining Pakistan", an intellectual movement forum — said the former prime minister had been articulating his views about the political approach of the government in a frank manner and was found criticising economic policies and specific political steps.

Abbasi was senior vice president of the PML-N but quit the party office soon after Maryam Nawaz was made chief organiser and senior vice president.

In a strange move, he was ignored at Friday's PML-N's general council meeting.

He is a National Assembly member from Lahore and sits in the house on government benches. He was made prime minister by Nawaz in 2017.

Nawaz had first designated Shehbaz Sharif to replace him, but in a change of mind, he made Abbasi his replacement after his ouster due to the Panama Papers case.