Senator Anwaar ul Haq Kakar of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), who was named the eighth caretaker prime minister of Pakistan on Saturday, was once a diehard fan of now incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan’s leadership qualities.
A tweet from 2019 now circulating on social media shows Kakar in complete awe of Imran Khan’s qualities as a statesman and a leader of the Muslim world.
Expressing his praise for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman in 2019, Kakar wrote, “@ImranKhanPTI you made everyone proud, Pakistani rest of ummah and above all emerging as true statesman who desire peace & showed leadership that he will resist til last man if imposed war by any jingoistic RSS goon.”
Soon after his nomination as caretaker prime minister of Pakistan, Kakar took to the microblogging platform X to express his gratitude. He wrote, “I am thankful to the Almighty for being given an opportunity to serve the people of Pakistan. My gratitude also extends to all the stakeholders for reposing their trust in me to lead the country. Prayers requested from everyone that Allah gives me the fortitude to carry out my responsibilities with due diligence.”
President Arif Alvi approved Kakar’s appointment as caretaker prime minister of Pakistan by signing the summary sent to him by outgoing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Raja Riaz with consensus.
Soon after Kakar was named the caretaker prime minister, he was given the protocol according to his new designation and security personnel were deployed at his residence.
Kakar, who did his intermediate from the Cadet College, Kohat, belongs to the Qila Saifullah District in Balochistan. He has been a member of the Senate of Pakistan since 2018 and his six-year tenure was scheduled to end in 2024. He contested the 2008 and 2013 general elections, but lost. He has been associated with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in the past and is now with the Balochistan Awamy Party (BAP).
In the past, he also served as a spokesperson for the Balochistan government. He has 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 Committee, Foreign Affairs Committee and Science and Technology Committee.
Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani and former Punjab chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar welcomed Kakar’s appointment as the caretaker prime minister of Pakistan. Sanjrani said that Kakar had the leadership qualities and the ability to take everyone along. He said it was a good decision to appoint someone from Balochistan as caretaker prime minister of Pakistan.
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However, two key leaders of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) disowned Kakar’s appointment as caretaker prime minister. Senior PPP leader and former Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah said that Kakar’s name was not among five people his party had named for caretaker prime minister’s position in consultation with a committee. He said the consultative committee had proposed five names, including Jalil Abbas, Salim Abbas, Mohammad Maalik and Afzal Khan.
Shah said that Kakar’s name was taken from Senate, which his party was not paying much attention to. He said it would have been better to pick someone else for this position. Regardless of where Kakar’s name has come from, he said, let’s hope for the best. He said that Kakar will be remembered in history if he holds free and fair elections on time.
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Similarly, PPP leader Murtaza Wahab Siddiqui disowned Kakar’s nomination as the new caretaker prime minister of Pakistan. He said the PPP was not consulted on Kakar’s nomination at all.
In a related development, outgoing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vacated the Prime Minister’s House hours after Kakar was named the new caretaker prime minister of Pakistan. Before leaving the Prime Minister’s House along with his personal belongings, Shehbaz had a farewell meeting with the PM House staff. Shehbaz will be given a guard of honour at the Prime Minister’s House on Sunday.