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Saturday, April 20, 2024

Dar may assume finance minister’s portfolio: Sanaullah

Ishaq Dar, the former finance minister, may be offered the same position upon his return to Pakistan, according to Rana Sanaullah Khan.

According to interior minister Rana Sanaullah, Ishaq Dar would pay a significant role to improve the country’s economy. Ishaq Dar, the former finance minister, may be offered the same position upon his return to Pakistan, according to Rana Sanaullah Khan, the federal interior minister.

“There is no issue for him to become a finance minister,” the minister said, speaking in a News programme. “However, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has not made any decision so far in this regard.”

The government led by the PML-N will take advantage of Dar’s experience as the finance minister, whether he works after assuming the portfolio’s responsibilities or without any portfolio, Rana Sanaullah said.

Ishaq Dar is the party’s senior most leader and he has a complete understanding of the country’s economy, he said. That is why, the government will take benefit from his experience, he said.

The interior minister said Ishaq Dar will play a central role for the uplift of the country’s economy.

Replying to a question, Rana Sana confirmed that Ishaq Dar will come to Pakistan next week.

On Friday, Ishaq Dar told that he would take oath as a senator immediately after his return to Pakistan. Replying to a query regarding him replacing Finance Minister Miftah Ismail, he said: “I will perform whatever duty is assigned to me by PMLN Head Nawaz Sharif and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.”

On July 28, 2017, a five-judge Supreme Court panel removed Nawaz Sharif from office for failing to disclose an undrawn salary from his son’s business. The Supreme Court also established a joint investigation team (JIT), led by Wajid Zia, a former F.I.A. additional director general, to look into the assets of the Sharif family and Dar.

Read More: PML-N leader Ishaq Dar gets jail-free card

The key witness for the prosecution, Wajid Zia, testified before the accountability court in April 2019 that Mr. Dar’s assets multiplied between 1982–1983, and 2008, during which time. He said that in 1982–1983, the former finance minister possessed assets of Rs9.1 million, which rose dramatically over the next few years to reach Rs831.6 million in 2008.

The prosecution came to the conclusion that Mr. Dar had assets that were out of all relation to and exceeded his recognised sources of income.

The former finance minister was labelled a proclaimed criminal and had his bank accounts and other properties confiscated because he hadn’t been in court since 2017. All of his movable and immovable assets were seized by NAB, including a house in Gulberg III, Lahore, three plots in the Al-Falah Housing Society, Lahore, six acres of land in Islamabad, a plot measuring two kanals and nine marlas in another part of Islamabad, a plot in the Parliamentarians’ Enclave, Islamabad, a plot measuring two kanals and nine marlas in Islamabad as well as six vehicles.

Ishaq Dar of the PML-N is now free to leave London, where he has been residing in “self-exile” for the past five or so years, after an accountability court on Friday suspended a warrant for his arrest.

Judge Mohammad Bashir of the Accountability Court issued an order suspending the perpetual arrest warrant against Mr. Dar, which had been issued on December 11, 2017, after Mr. Dar fled from an assets-beyond-means case. The senator-elect has two weeks to submit to the legislation because the warrants were put on hold until October 7.

Dar must now appear in court to ask for his warrant to be revoked. The warrant, however, may potentially be recalled by the accountability judge. If the judge uses this authority, Mr. Dar will no longer need to apply for bail but will still be expected to participate in the trial and sign up for every hearing date until the court releases him from personal appearance.