Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif appointed Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar as his deputy in his first appointment since 2012.

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Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar was appointed Deputy Prime Minister on Sunday. A notification was issued by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announcing the appointment “with immediate effect and until further orders”, Dawn reported. The appointment marks the restoration of the post of Deputy Prime Minister, which was vacant since June 2012 when Chaudhry Pervez Elahi held the role under the PML-Q administration.

The announcement came while both Prime Minister Sharif and Foreign Minister Dar were in Saudi Arabia to attend a World Economic Forum event. What specific duties Dar will perform as deputy prime minister is unclear, given that traditionally, the prime minister has centralized authority as head of government.

Dar’s closeness to former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is notable due to the family ties between the two families, with Dar’s son being the elder Sharif’s son-in-law. He has previously served as Finance Minister in two administrations and was considered the party’s economic troubleshooter while holding the role of Finance Minister in the previous Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) coalition government.

Ishaq Dar’s political career spans several key ministerial positions, particularly in commerce, investment and finance. He previously served as the Federal Minister for Commerce and Investment during the government of Nawaz Sharif from 1997 to 1999. Moreover, he held the finance portfolio twice, first in 1998-99 and again in 2008, according to Dawn.

Before assuming the post of federal minister, Dar held the post of Minister of State/Chief Executive of Pakistan Investment Board (PIB) from 1992 to 1993.

Dar also served as the Finance Minister in the government of Nawaz Sharif in 2013 and was later reappointed from September 2022 to August 2023.

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Ishaq Dar, considered a trusted finance expert of PML-N, took a surprising step and handed over foreign affairs.

Dar’s recent appointment as Foreign Minister has raised questions, especially in view of his already proposed candidature for the post of Senate Chairman. However, his bid for the post of Senate Chairman failed after the PML-N reached an agreement with the Bilawal Bhutto Zardari-led Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). Was given the post of President and Senate President.

This political maneuvering between PML-N and PPP paved the way for a coalition government despite Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-backed independent MLAs gaining majority in the National Assembly. The appointment of Deputy Prime Minister is not unprecedented, Chaudhry Pervez Ilahi had held the role during the tenure of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) from 25 June 2012 to 29 June 2013. Ilahi’s position was largely symbolic at the time, serving as a reward for his support of the PPP government.

Currently, Ilahi is the president of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and faces corruption charges, which have resulted in him being jailed. Meanwhile, the prestigious finance department of Dar was handed over to Muhammad Aurangzeb.

PPP leader Faisal Karim Kundi said his party had no objection to the appointment of Ishaq Dar as Deputy Prime Minister, noting that previous PPP governments had also appointed Deputy Prime Ministers.

“It is the prerogative of the Prime Minister […] If Shehbaz Sharif wanted to appoint Ishaq Dar and he did so, that is his prerogative. This is his cabinet,” Kundi told Hum News, as reported by Dawn.

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