The choice of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar as temporary prime minister was not suggested by anyone in the government, according to Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Friday. “Ishaq Dar’s name was neither rejected nor proposed. The interior minister said, “It might just be a rumour. According to Sanaullah, discussions are currently taking place on who should be assigned to the coveted position: a bureaucrat or a politician. Ishaq Dar or any other politician from any party might be chosen if there is agreement that a politician should be appointed, he said. The government would want to appoint someone who was acceptable to all parties, he stressed.
Earlier this week rumours that Dar was a possible candidate for the post of interim CM began to ciculate. However, neither Dar nor any other Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader rejected these rumours.
In fact, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said that the finance minister could be appointed to the post.
It was only later that Defence Minister Khawaja Asif denied the reports, with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) also against his appointment.
During the show, Sanaullah also spoke about the return of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, who has been residing in London since 2019, to Pakistan.
The minister said people had a wrong assumption that the incumbent government has the authority to allow Nawaz to stage a comeback in politics.
“This is completely wrong. The government does not have this right,” he said, pointing fingers at the Supreme Court.
Sanaullah said the top court had disqualified Nawaz through an order no one accepted. He blamed the judges for being “biased” against the PML-N supremo.
The minister further added that PML-N Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz had secured acquittals in her cases through courts, and Nawaz would do the same once he returned.
“Nawaz Sharif will soon return. He will first secure interim bails and then secure acquittals. All the political restrictions imposed on him through conspiracies will end.”
Parliament has passed a law that limits the disqualification of a parliamentarian to five years, benefiting Nawaz, who was barred for a lifetime from running for office.
