A ‘dark horse’ to become caretaker PM

ISLAMABAD: Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) Senator Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar emerged as the “dark horse” on Saturday when Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and opposition leader in the outgoing National Assembly Raja Riaz reached a consensus to appoint him as the caretaker prime minister.

The consensus was reached in a meeting between the prime minister and opposition leader on the last day of the formal consultation process between them following the dissolution of the National Assembly on August 9, 2023.

In a statement, the Prime Minister’s Office said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and opposition leader Raja Riaz have sent an advice to President Dr Alvi regarding the appointment of Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar as the caretaker prime minister.

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

The president gave his consent within no time and signed the summary under Article 224 A of the Constitution.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, Raja Riaz said they had reached a consensus on the appointment of Kakar as the caretaker prime minister. He said that they had earlier decided that the caretaker prime minister should be someone from a smaller province and a “non-controversial” personality.

“Our aim was to remove the sense of deprivation in small provinces. We have finally reached a consensus that Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar will be the caretaker prime minister,” he added.

Riaz said Kakar’s name was proposed by him and Shehbaz Sharif also gave his consent. “I and the prime minister have signed the summary,” Riaz further stated, adding that the caretaker prime minister will take his oath Monday (Aug 14).

Responding to a question, he said that they did not discuss the caretaker cabinet in the meeting.

A founding member of the BAP, Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar was elected as an independent senator from Balochistan in 2018, whose six-year term will end in March 2024.

Currently, he is chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, and is a member of various other standing committees of the Upper House, including the Business Advisory Committee, Finance and Revenue, Foreign Affairs, and Science and Technology. In the Senate, Kakar also served as the parliamentary leader of the BAP.

Amid widespread rumors about different contenders for the post of interim premier, Kakar’s name was little in the public, as there were a number of names being circulated for the coveted slot, including former foreign secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani, Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani, former chief justice Tassaduq Hussain Jilani, Ishaq Dar, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Hafeez Sheikh, and others.

The process of the formal consultation process kicked off a day after the dissolution of the National Assembly on August 9. The first meeting between the outgoing prime minister and the opposition leader was held on August 10 in which the duo exchanged the lists of the candidates.

The second round of consultations was held on Friday night during a dinner hosted by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for leaders of the outgoing ruling alliance, wherein, he had expressed the confidence that they would finalise the name of the caretaker premier on Saturday.

Anwaar-ul-Haw Kakar was born in 1971 in Muslim Bagh area of Qila Saifullah district of Balochistan. He received his primary education from St. Francis School, Quetta and later, enrolled in Cadet College Kohat but returned to his hometown upon his father’s demise.

Kakar has done a Master’s in political science and sociology from University of Balochistan and started his career by teaching in a school in his native town.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023