ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) leader Rana Sanaullah, who was interior minister in the outgoing cabinet of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, said the new caretaker prime minister’s appointment had been approved by party supremo Nawaz Sharif.
Kakar, a little-known politician who is believed to be close to the military and hails from the remote southwestern province of Balochistan, was sworn in as Pakistan’s caretaker prime minister on Monday after days of raucous debate over who would take over to oversee national elections at a time the country is going through myriad political and economic crises. The announcement came as a surprise to many, even seasoned political observers, as Kakar’s name had not come up in the list of candidates widely discussed in runup to the appointment, which included Former Finance Ministers Ishaq Dar and Abdul Hafiz Sheikh and seasoned diplomat Jalil Abbas Jilani.
The announcement fueled widespread rumors that major political parties like the PMLN of outgoing PM Shehbaz Sharif, who is Nawaz’s brother, and the Pakistan People’s Party had been kept out of the ultimate decision making and Kakar was the choice of the all-powerful military, which is believed to have become more deeply involved in running Pakistani politics in recent months, especially after the ouster of former PM Imran Khan. The army says it does not interfere in political affairs.
Under Pakistan’s constitution, after the government’s term expires, the president is bound to appoint a caretaker prime minister in consultation with the outgoing prime minister and opposition leader. The same procedure is followed by governors in the provinces.
“When the [outgoing] prime minister signed on the advice [to the president], before the signing, the approval for it had been given by Nawaz Sharif as [PMLN] party head,” Sanaullah said in an interview to a local channel in what was the first reaction to Kakar’s appointment from the three-time former PM who runs the affairs of his party from self-imposed exile in London.
“If he [Nawaz] had not given his approval, he [Shehbaz] would not have signed. How can it be that his approval wasn’t there or he didn’t know?”
Sanaullah said there were initially around three names under discussion, without disclosing them.
“And these other names were more credible, they were more favorite, credible in the sense that they had greater chances, but then certain things got attached to them, some things which came to the fore due to which they were sidelined, and then an unimportant name who was on the third or fourth rank, he came to first place.”
With growing concerns that general elections may be delayed beyond November when they are due, the choice of caretaker prime minister has assumed greater importance. Kakar also has extra powers to make policy decisions, particularly on economic matters, after controversial changes to Pakistan’s election laws enacted by the outgoing government.
Political analysts say if the caretaker set-up stretches beyond its constitutional tenure, a prolonged period without an elected government would allow the military — which already has an outsized role in Pakistani politics and security, economic and foreign policy — to consolidate control.
