ISLAMABAD: Pakistani President Dr. Arif Alvi on Thursday administered oath to a caretaker cabinet, days after Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar was sworn in as interim prime minister to oversee general elections.
The caretaker administration will have its hands full in attempting to oversee general elections in Pakistan at a time when the country is grappling with an economic crisis and heightened political instability.
Those who took oath as cabinet members include ex-Pakistan ambassador to the US, Jalil Abbas Jilani, senior journalist Murtaza Solangi, Dr Umar Saif, Sarfraz Bugti, Shahid Ashraf Tarar, industrialist Gohar Ejaz, Jalil Abbas Jilani, Jamal Shah, Dr Nadeem Jan, Aneeq Ahmed, Muhammad Sami, Ahmed Irfan, and Lt General (retired) Anwar Ali Haider.
Senior economist Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, who is also a former governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, is believed to have been given the finance portfolio while Jilani will be appointed as Pakistan’s caretaker foreign minister.
According to Pakistan’s constitution, members of the caretaker cabinet and their immediate family (spouses and children) would not be eligible to contest the upcoming elections.
The Cabinet Division or Prime Minister’s Office would issue a formal notification announcing the portfolios assigned to various members of the cabinet. The majority of the members are technocrats.
The role and functions of the caretaker government have been clearly defined in Section 230 of the Elections Act, 2017, which restricts its functions to “day-to-day matters which are necessary to run the affairs of the government.”
As per the Act, the caretaker government is supposed to be “impartial to every person and political party” and is not mandated to “take major policy decisions except on urgent matters.” It is also not authorized to undertake transfers and postings of public officials without approval from Pakistan’s election regulator.
“The caretaker government shall not attempt to influence elections or do or cause to be done anything which may, in any manner, influence or adversely affect the free and fair elections,” the Elections Act states.
The amendments passed by parliament to the Elections Act earlier this month empowered the caretaker government to take important decisions about “existing bilateral, multilateral and ongoing projects” already signed with international institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Experts, however, said the amendment would not change the “basic character” of the interim government.
