Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Re-conciliatory voices within the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have proposed making Finance Minister Ishaq Dar a dysfunctional cabinet member and transferring the key portfolio to another member like Sartaj Aziz or Miftah Ismail.

Sources in the ruling party as well as federal government told Daily Times that the proposal sprang up in wake of Dar’s resistance to resign as finance minister. Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has also reportedly disliked the idea of Dar resigning as finance minister, the sources added.

“I am working with the prime minister (Shahid Khaqan Abbasi) and I can say with confidence that both PM and Nawaz Sharif have full trust in Ishaq Dar,” said Special Assistant to the PM on Economic Affairs Miftah Ismail, while denying any proposal to remove Dar. When asked about Dar’s preoccupation with his case in the accountability court, Ismail said he had just held a meeting with the finance minister to discuss some issues related to the ministry.

Sources said the name of veteran economist Sartaj Aziz also came to the fore as Dar’s replacement but he (Sartaj Aziz) preferred his current portfolio of Planning Commission deputy chairman, wherein he is looking after the multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.

In the cabinet of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, Dar was advisor to the PM on foreign affairs.

When contacted, Sartaj Aziz could not answer questions by this scribe due to constant interruption in the telephone lines. Sources said Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is waiting for Nawaz Sharif’s nod vis-à-vis Dar’s future role in the cabinet.

Published in Daily Times, September 28^th 2017.