FM Dar gets bigger role, appointed deputy PM

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has appointed Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar as the deputy prime minister.

“Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has approved appointment of Senator Dar as Deputy Prime Minister a short while ago,” a statement issued by the PM media wing said at 5pm.

The Cabinet Division also issued a notification with signatures of the cabinet secretary on the appointment of Ishaq Dar as deputy prime minister.

“The Prime Minister has been pleased to designate Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, as Deputy Prime Minister, with immediate effect and until further orders,” a notification, issued with the signatures of Cabinet Secretary Kamran Afzal, said.

Official sources said that besides his new assignment, Ishaq Dar would continue as the foreign minister of the country.

Ishaq Dar was appointed as foreign minister after the PMLN formed a coalition government in the Centre after the February 8 elections. However, despite insistence from the PMLN, the PPP leadership has refused to become a part of the cabinet. Instead, it preferred to secure the two top constitutional posts of the president of Pakistan and Senate chairman. The National Assembly deputy speaker also belongs to the PPP.

Previously, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto also remained deputy prime minister of Pakistan, appointed on December 7, 1971, Nusrat Bhutto, March 31, 1989 and Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, June 25, 2012.

Ishaq Dar, the four-time finance minister, is also a close relative of PMLN supremo Nawaz Sharif and had always been a powerful figure whenever there was a PMLN government in the Centre.

However, the post of deputy PM is a ceremonial figure in the government as there is no such provision in the Constitution. The PM, under Rules of Business of 1973, however, could give the additional charge of more responsibilities to Ishaq Dar.

Most of cabinet members currently possess more than one portfolios despite the fact that some portfolios wrest with the premier. Dar is currently a part of PM’s entourage visiting Saudi Arabia to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) event.

Commenting on Dar’s elevation as deputy premier, PMLN leader Talal Chaudhry said the PM’s decision did not indicate any signal to the establishment.

Speaking in a TV programme, he said, “Dar’s elevation does not mean a race is going on between the PM and the establishment.”