ISLAMABAD: After the swearing-in of the federal cabinet, the first meeting of the cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was held, but Ishaq Dar, an important member of the cabinet and Nawaz Sharif’s close aide, could not be given the portfolio of the finance ministry for several reasons.
Mohammad Aurangzeb, a professional banker and president of Habib Bank Limited for 5 years, has been given the portfolio of the Federal Ministry of Finance in place of Ishaq Dar. Ishaq Dar became the Finance Minister for the first time in 1998 and then again in 2013 the portfolio of the Finance Ministry was also handed over to Ishaq Dar by the PML-N government.
When in 2017, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was given the post of prime minister after Nawaz Sharif was declared ineligible, then Miftah Ismail, a sympathizer of Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, was given the position of finance minister instead of Ishaq Dar. Miftah faced heavy criticism over his policies.
Later, Miftah Ismail had to leave the post and when the Tehreek-e-Insaf government was legally sent home in April 2022 by bringing a no-confidence motion. Shehbaz Sharif then took over the chair of the Prime Minister and ruled for 16 months, during which Miftah Ismail was suspended for 5 months.
The then Finance Minister Miftah was not only removed from his post, but for the first time in history, the Muslim League (N) changed its Finance Minister. However, Ishaq Dar was no longer seen as alternative either for failing to live upto public expectations.
Ishaq Dar’s anti-IMF statements wrecked his chances for the chair. His reputation took a further tumble when he failed to bring down the dollar. Shehbaz Sharif was left then left with no choice but to keep out Ishaq Dar due to his inability to control inflation. Today Ishaq Dar is no longer PMLN’s choice for Finance Minister and given his faliure to fix the economy the decesion comes as no surprise.
