New Delhi: After a significant delay, Pakistan’s President Arif Alvi on Saturday, August 12, assented to the appointment of a relatively low-profile senator from Baluchistan Awami Party (BAP), Anwaarul Haq Kakar, as the caretaker Prime Minister.The delay in the appointment was due to differences between the military establishment and civilian government over zeroing in on a candidate for the job.The announcement was made on Saturday, August 12, by the Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly, Raja Riaz, while talking to reporters outside his office in Islamabad. Later, a press release from Prime Minister’s office said that Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Riaz had jointly sent advice to President Alvi for Kakar’s appointment as interim head of government. Alvi approved the appointment shortly afterwards, with the swearing-in ceremony to be held on Saturday.As quoted by Dawn, Riaz told reporters that it was decided that the caretaker PM “should be someone from a smaller province and a non-controversial personality”.He indicated that Kakar’s name was his proposal. “I had given this name and the PM has consented to this name … I and the PM have signed on the summary,” he said. BAP was also a member of the ruling coalition headed by Sharif.As per the newspaper, Kakar was elected as an independent senator from Balochistan in March 2018. Soon after, he co-founded the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) along with another leader. BAP emerged as the largest party in Balochistan in the 2018 general elections. From the start, it had been speculated that BAP was the favoured political party of the army in the province, but party leaders claimed that the criticism smacked of jealousy.According to Pakistan media, the delay in the announcement of the caretaker prime minister after the national assembly was dissolved on August 9 was due to differences between the Nawaz Sharif-led Pakistan Muslim League party and the military establishment.Riaz had expected to be a ‘friendly’ leader of the opposition, but he had been surprisingly intransigent, even refusing to accept requests for a meeting with the Prime Minister on grounds of a busy schedule.Sharif’s first choice as caretaker prime minister had been the highly unpopular finance minister and his daughter’s father-in-law, Ishaq Dar.“However, Riaz, a PTI dissident with no backing of a political party, was getting dictation from another power corridor and insisting on the name of Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, sources claimed. Sanjrani called on Riaz on Friday, as well as Dar and Ahsan Iqbal,” said the Dawn newspaper.According to Geo news anchor Shahzeb Khanzada, it was clear from the beginning that if the politician was a nominee of the politicians, the name would be put forth by the prime minister. On the other hand, if the individual was a nominee of the state, the name would be presented by the leader of the opposition. As expected, the latter scenario has unfolded, he stated.The main job of the caretaker government in Pakistan is to support the upcoming elections and conduct the day-to-day affairs of governance. However, the last National Assembly passed legislation which gave more powers to the caretaker government, especially led to concern that there would be a delay in holding elections.After the Shahbaz Sharif government approved holding the census before the general elections, it was confirmed that it was highly unlikely that the general elections will be held on schedule as per the constitution.
