Pakistan’s caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar: a brief profile

Senator Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, a senior member of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), has been named caretaker prime minister following days of deliberation.

Opposition Leader Raja Riaz and outgoing premier Shehbaz Sharif agreed on Kakar’s nomination on Saturday. President Dr Arif Alvi also approved Kakar’s nomination.

“We decided that the interim prime minister would come from a smaller province,” Riaz told the journalists following the meeting.

Kakar won a seat in the Balochistan Senate as an independent candidate in 2018, securing a six-year term that would end in March 2024.

He also contested for a seat in the National Assembly in the 2008 election from Quetta city and narrowly lost to Pakistan Peoples Party’s Agha Nasir.

He has held multiple positions concurrently, including that of member of the Business Advisory Committee, Finance and Revenue, Foreign Affairs, and Science and Technology, as well as chair of the Senate Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development.

In the Senate, Kakar also served as the Balochistan Awami Party’s parliamentary leader. He managed this position of leadership for a significant five years. However, the party decided to choose new leadership five months ago.

People close to Kakar told Business Recorder he is a “strong advocate of meritocracy, rule of law and accountability”.

He is regarded as an expert Pakistani politician and spent about 10 years living in London. He is quite knowledgeable on local politics, especially Balochistan where terrorism and lack of development have hindered the province’s development. With China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and Reko Diq projects being pursued, Balochistan comes to the fore of the economic development agenda.

Kakar earned a master’s degree in political science and sociology from the University of Balochistan. He also has strong ties with the major political parties, such as the PPP and PML-N.

Kakar wil be tasked with ensuring Pakistan’s economic reforms’ agenda continues as the country is currently involved in a nine-month Stand-By Arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). A first tranche saw an inflow of $1.2 billion last month, but another two reviews (November and February) are left, with continuity of policies and economic measures remaining high priorities.

While elections are now due to be held within 90 days of the dissolution of the National Assembly (since it was dissolved before its term ended), experts believe there could still be a delay since outgoing premier Shehbaz Sharif has approved holding polls under the new digital census.