— Ismail formally steps down, paving way for Dar to take over
ISLAMABAD: Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjarani on Tuesday administered the oath as Senator to Ishaq Dar of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) amid protest by opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) in the Upper House of the parliament.
The 321st session of the 20th Parliamentary year commenced with the recitation of the Holy Quran. Chairman Senate Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani chairing the session.
Member of the Upper House, Ishaq Dar took oath as new senator. Chairman Senate administered the oath.
— Senate of Pakistan (@SenatePakistan) September 27, 2022
Meanwhile, Miftah Ismail, minister for finance, formally resigned from the office, paving the way for Dar to take over. He had announced his decision after a meeting with the party’s supreme leader Nawaz Sharif in London on Sunday.
In a meeting with Mian Nawaz Sharif and PM Shehbaz Sharif today, I have verbally resigned as Finance Minister. I will tender a formal resignation upon reaching Pakistan. It’s been an honour to serve twice as Finance Minister. Pakistan Paindabad
— Miftah Ismail (@MiftahIsmail) September 25, 2022
In his resignation letter dated September 27, Ismail wrote: “I am grateful for the opportunity to serve my country in your [Shehbaz Sharif’s] administration, which was an honour and a privilege.”
Dar, who remained in self-exile in the United Kingdom since 2017, was elected in absentia as a senator on a technocrat seat from Punjab in March 2018 but did not take oath due to his stay in London.
The Supreme Court disqualified him from office in July 2017 after an investigation into the undisclosed wealth of now-deposed prime minister Sharif and his family.
During the ceremony, senators from PTI gathered near the rostrum and chanted slogans after which the chairman called in security personnel.
Shahzad Waseem, leader of the opposition in the House, said the tradition of the House had never been that a “man absconds and comes back”.
“His seat remained empty for four years. An ordinance was introduced only to protect him,” he added.
Waseem went on to allege Sharif, prime minister at the time, helped Dar escape. “According to my information, he [Dar] has not surrendered before the court, he has come straight to the Senate. Does the Senate not have any respect? Absconders come and go unhindered […]”
Dar is expected to take oath as the nation’s sixth finance minister since the last general elections in 2018 on Wednesday at 10:00 am.
He is taking office, for the fourth time — from 1998-99, 2008 and 2013-17 — with the challenge of getting the economy out of one of its worst balance of payment crises that has seen foreign reserves falling to a month of imports.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) board last month approved the seventh and eighth reviews of a bailout programme approved in 2019, allowing for a release of over $1.1 billion.
Tall claims, plummeting rupee
Dar, after his return on Monday, said he wanted to get Pakistan out of its economic rut and stressed he wanted a strong and stable rupee. He has favoured an artificially overvalued currency in his previous tenures as finance minister.
“The Dar factor is at play. There are memories of how he kept the dollar rate stable,” said Fahad Rauf at Ismail Iqbal Securities.
“There is no way (the rupee) can sustainably move against the tide in the current scenario,” Rauf said in reference to the dollar strengthening against all currencies.
Ahead of his formal appointment, the rupee had risen throughout the day after reports that he would take up the role, a change that comes in the midst of an economic crisis in Pakistan that has been exacerbated by deadly floods.
“Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has asked me to accept the responsibilities of finance minister,” Dar said in a statement broadcast on Pakistan Television on Monday evening. “By the grace of Allah, I will try my best to get Pakistan out of this economic rut.”
During a previous tenure ending in 2017, Dar claimed Pakistan was going to become the world’s 18th strongest economy, but the country is facing economic turmoil, exacerbated by widespread floods estimated to have cost it nearly $30 billion.
Disqualification petition withdrawn
A plea seeking disqualification of former Finance Minister Ishaq Dar was withdrawn by the petitioner from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
A four-member bench heard the case. Petitioner Azhar Siddique said he wanted to file a petition in High Court for disqualification of Ishaq Dar, hence the petition was being withdrawn.
The commission directed the petitioner to submit a written plea for withdrawal of the petition. The ECP Member Khyber Pakhtunkhwa said that the decision on the case had been reserved.
On Monday, the ECP had reserved its verdict on a petition seeking to declare Dar’s seat in the Senate “vacant” over his failure to take oath as a senator within 60 days of being elected.
Dar’s counsel had argued that the ordinance, promulgated by the president, about 60 days for taking the oath “does not apply to his client”.
“The ordinance lapsed after completing its constitutional life,” the lawyer argued, adding that a member cannot be disqualified if he did not take the oath even for 5 years.
Dar’s return stunned Imran: Marriyum
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb said it seemed Dar’s return had stunned Imran Khan who she declared had a fascist agenda.
It would continue to haunt the PTI chair in the future as well, she said in a statement with reference to the remarks of PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry.
The minister said hue and cry on Dar’s return by “a foreign agent, and a thief of diamonds and watches” was somewhat natural. It was a reality which the PTI leaders would have to accept.
She said since Dar had not been convicted by any court of law he would soon take oath as a senator.
