In a much-anticipated announcement, Balochistan Awami Party Senator Anwaarul Haq Kakar has been chosen as the interim prime minister of Pakistan, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said on Saturday. The announcement came following a meeting between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and outgoing Opposition Leader in the National Assembly (NA) Raja Riaz.
Kakar, a lesser known politician and a lawmaker belonging to Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), will lead a caretaker government until a new election later this year.
Who is Anwaarul Haq Kakar?
Anwaarul Haq Kakar has been a Member of the Senate of Pakistan, since March 2018. He co-launched a new political party Balochistan Awami Party (BAP). The party had contested the general elections in 2018 with the slogan of 'Stronger nation, unified people'. He undertook the role of parliamentary leader for the Balochistan Awami Party — formed in 2018 — within the Senate. But the party opted for a replacement five months ago.
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While being the senate, he simultaneously worked as chairperson of the Senate Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, and as a member of the Business Advisory Committee, Finance and Revenue, Foreign Affairs and Science and Technology, according to a report by Dawn.
“Though he has been involved in politics, Kakar is widely regarded as a great intellectual in the country,” senior anchorperson Hamid Mir told Geo News. Mir further said that the BAP lawmaker is from the Kakar tribe of Pashtun ethnicity, so he represents both Pashtuns and Balochs. “The senator also enjoys good ties with the mainstream political parties including PML-N and PPP.”
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He has also served as the spokesperson of the provincial government prior to his election to the upper house.
The polls are expected to be delayed for a couple of months as new census results have been approved by the outgoing government, which makes it a constitutional obligation to carry out delimitation before elections.
