Little-known senator Kakar sworn in as new Pakistan PM

Kakar, 52, takes charge of a country that has been wracked by political and economic instability for months, with Imran Khan -- Pakistan's most popular politician -- in jail and disqualified from elections for five years

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August 14, 2023 12:55 pm

Pakistan caretaker government PM Anwaarul Haq Kakar. Photo: Dawn

Islamabad: Little-known senator Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar was sworn in Monday as Pakistan’s caretaker prime minister to see the country through to an election due in months.

Kakar, 52, takes charge of a country that has been wracked by political and economic instability for months, with Imran Khan — Pakistan’s most popular politician — in jail and disqualified from elections for five years.

Kakar was sworn in by President Arif Alvi on Pakistan’s Independence Day in a ceremony carried live on TV, having resigned from his post as senator on Sunday.

“I Anwaar-ul-Haq, do swear solemnly… that I will bear true faith and allegiance to Pakistan,” he said.

Kakar’s first task will be to choose a cabinet to run the country as it heads into an election period that could last for months.

Parliament was officially dissolved last week, with elections due within 90 days according to the constitution.

But data from the latest census was finally published earlier this month, and the outgoing government said the election commission needed time to redraw constituency boundaries.

There has been speculation for months that a vote would be delayed as the establishment struggles to stabilise a country facing overlapping security, economic and political crises.

“I am relinquishing heavy responsibility after 16 months… We came constitutionally and leave as per the direction of the constitution,” outgoing premier Shehbaz Sharif said in a farewell address to the nation on Sunday.

“I have confidence in the caretaker prime minister’s ability to conduct free and fair elections.”

Pakistan has been in political turmoil since Khan was dismissed as premier by a no-confidence vote in April 2022, culminating in him being jailed last
weekend for three years for graft.

He has been disqualified from standing for office for five years, but is appealing against his sentence and conviction.

– Cracked down –

Authorities have cracked down hard against Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in recent months, crushing his grassroots power by rounding up thousands of his supporters and officials.