Miftah Ismail has stepped down from his post as Pakistan’s finance minister. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former Finance Minister, Ishaq Dar, is all set to become the country’s finance minister again.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is expected to arrive in Pakistan on Monday, Sept. 26, accompanied by Ishaq Dar who is set to take charge as finance minister.
The development came late on Sunday after PM Shehbaz Sharif and other PML-N members had an important meeting with convicted former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in London.
Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, Miftah Ismail, Ishaq Dar, and Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan also attended the meeting, where the overall political situation of Pakistan was discussed in detail.
Miftah handed over his resignation letter to Nawaz Sharif in the same meeting, saying he tried to stay loyal to the party and country during the last four months.
“I worked to the best of my ability for four months, and remained loyal to the party and the country,” a PML-N quoted Miftah in a statement issued late on Sunday.
Shehbaz, Nawaz jointly nominated Dar
Ishaq Dar was a joint nomination of PM Shehbaz Sharif and party leader Nawaz Sharif, sources told media. The party leader has tasked Dar with two tasks: a) bring down inflation, b) decrease the dollar-rupee parity, a source close to the Sharif family told a leading media outlet.
Dar, a senator-elect, had abruptly left for London in October 2017 while he was facing a trial in a corruption reference. Ex-premier Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had approved Dar’s ‘medical leave,’ giving him a door to flee the charges.
Dar has been in the UK since then. Information Minister also revealed that Dar was returning to sworn in as new finance minister. He was likely to take oath on Tuesday, Marriyum hinted but refrained from confirming that. The information minister said that she only knew that Dar was returning with the premier on Monday.
PML-N all praise for Miftah’s services
The participants of the meeting as well as other PML-N members have all praised Miftah Ismail for helping the coalition government “put out the fire of economic disaster” caused by the PTI government.
Nawaz Sharif appreciated the Miftah’s efforts for carrying out the responsibilities under “tough economic challenges”.
The participants of the meeting were of the view that the incumbent government had to “put out the fire of economic disaster” caused by the previous PTI-led regime.
Information minister Marriyum Aurangzeb tweeted that Miftah deserves appreciation from the entire nation and especially his party.
Federal Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal was also all praise for Miftah’s services.
“You [Miftah] served under most challenging circumstances. You saved default at the cost of personal reputation. Your services will be remembered,” he tweeted.