Anwaarul Haq Kakar on Monday took oath as the eighth interim Prime Minister of Pakistan after having earlier stepped down as senator and member of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) to ensure the conduct of general elections in a free and fair manner.
President Arif Alvi administered the oath to the caretaker prime minister in a ceremony at the President’s House on Aug. 14, Independence Day. The event was attended by outgoing prime minister Shehbaz Sharif; Army chief Gen. Asim Munir; Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani; Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman; Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori; Punjab caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi; Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa caretaker Chief Minister Azam Khan, and other senior officials. Subsequently, interim P.M. Kakar was presented with a “guard of honor” at the Prime Minister’s House. Similarly, Sharif was also given a guard of honor as he left the Prime Minister’s House and returned to his Lahore home.
Following his oath-taking, efforts are underway to form the caretaker cabinet, with Kakar indicating he desires a “lean” cabinet and minimal security detail so as not to inconvenience the public or place undue burden on the exchequer amidst an ongoing economic crunch. While no names have been confirmed for the caretaker cabinet, local media has reported that he intends to retain several members of former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif’s cabinet, while inducting some new names to round out his team.
Even though Kakar’s appointment resulted from consensus between the prime minister and the opposition leader, some politicians had expressed “surprise” over it and voiced concern at the perception of the interim prime minister being considered “close” to the military establishment.
The first voice of dissent came from Balochistan National Party leader Akhtar Mengal, who alleged in a letter addressed to Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) leader Nawaz Sharif that consultations over the caretaker’s appointment were held with the “establishment” rather than allied parties. Regretting that the appointment had “created further distance” between the PMLN and the BNP, he subsequently told media that he did not have any personal issues with Kakar, but wanted to make clear that this did not alleviate the concerns of people of Balochistan.
On Sunday, PMLN leader—and former defense minister—Khawaja Asif similarly voiced concern, saying Kakar had not been agreed upon by any of the parties comprising the former ruling coalition. Claiming the government parties had agreed on the name of former Balochistan chief minister Abdul Malik, he said in this scenario it was “natural” to assume the establishment had played a role in the appointment.
Awami National Party’s Aimal Wali Khan and Pakistan Peoples Party’s Khursheed Shah have also noted that Kakar was a “surprise” announcement that they had not been aware of.