In partnership with
ANWAAR KAKAR SWORN IN AS PAKISTAN’S 8TH CARETAKER PRIME MINISTER
Profit
Tuesday, 15 August, 2023 I 27 Muharram, 1445
A
cAretAker pm Assumes office, presented guArd of honour At pm's house
g
ISLAMABAD
g
meets vArious delegAtions, seeks briefing on importAnt mAtters
STAFF REPORT
NWAARUL Haq Kakar became the 8th interim prime minister of Pakistan after taking oath of the office at the presidency on Monday. Kakar, clad in a grey suit, was administered oath by President Arif Alvi at a ceremony held at the Aiwan-i-Sadr in Islamabad. PM Kakar was presented guard of honour in a ceremony at the Prime Minister House here on Monday. A smartly turned out contingent of Pakistan’s armed forces presented the guard of honour. National anthem was also played on the occasion. Outgoing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif received the new prime minister on his arrival. The caretaker prime minister met the officers and staff of the Prime Minister House. Outgoing prime minister Shehbaz Sharif felicitated Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on becoming care-
taker PM and expressed his best wishes for him. Earlier, outgoing prime minister was also given guard of honour. He reviewed the guard of honour as the contingents of the armed forces presented a salute to him. Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar bid farewell to the departing prime minister.
Rs 40.00 | Vol XIV No 45 I 40 Pages I Islamabad Edition
Kakar was announced as the interim premier on Saturday, following meetings between outgoing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Opposition Leader Raja Riaz and several days of speculation about the probable choice for the post. In a statement issued yesterday, the outgoing PM had expressed confidence
that Kakar would ensure fair elections. He said the “trust reposed by all parties in Kakar’s name proves their proper choice as the upcoming caretaker PM is an educated person and a patriot”. The ceremony was attended by outgoing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, former National Assembly speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori, Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman, PTI Senator Shehbaz Waseem, PPP’s Faisal Karim Kundi and others. Caretaker PM assumes office, seeks briefing from ministries Later in the day, caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar here assumed his responsibilities after taking the oath of office. The PM sought briefing from all ministries on important matters. It is worth mentioned here that Anwaarul Haq Kakar, who hails from Qilla Saifullah, was one of the original architects of the Balochistan Awami Party.
President Alvi urges ‘path of forgiveness’ to end political differences ISLAMABAD
STAFF REPORT
In a significant development, President Arif Alvi on Monday urged the country’s politicians and other stakeholders to embrace the path of forgiveness, drawing inspiration from the life and teachings of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him). After the hoisting of the national flag at the main flag hoisting ceremony held at the Convention Center in Islamabad today, President Alvi said time and circumstances demand that Quaid Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s message of “Unity, Faith and Discipline” be followed in letter and spirit. He further added that Pakistan’s progress and development were contingent on unity, justice, and meritocracy. He stressed that unity is what makes a nation and said that it was not too late for the country to
make changes. He also expressed confidence that Pakistan could become a developed country in a matter of a few years. Veering away from Islamic principles and core values would exacerbate the situation, he said, highlighting the necessity of breaking free from nepotism, promoting meritocracy, and ensuring comprehensive justice — particularly in the socio-economic sphere — in order to progress. “In a country where there is no justice, the entire system will collapse,” he said. In his impassioned speech, the president spoke about the need to foster a system in which the poor was cared for, drawing examples from the life of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), holding the elite responsible for ensuring the play their part in uplifting the country out of drudgery. President Alvi in his address also termed promoting education a need of paramount importance to alleviate poverty. “Twenty-seven million children are out of school,”
CONTINUED ON PAGE 03
he said regretfully, urging the affluent class to come forward and make arrangements for their education. Another issue pivotal to addressing the issue of poverty is ensuring better health he pointed out. Another crucial point mentioned by the president in his address was the need for greater participation of women in economic activities. They constitute almost half of the population and their involvement is important to achieving a high growth rate, he said, referring to both religion and examples from the life of the esteemed founder of Pakistan to bolster his claim. It is your responsibility to ensure the safety of women so that they should not be harassed on the roads. It is your responsibility to ensure that when a woman leaves her house in search of employment, you make it safe for her,” he remarked.
Pakistan knows how to defend its freedom: COAS KAKUL
STAFF REPORT
Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Asim Munir paid tribute to the nation’s founding fathers, emphasising the significance of Independence Day and the spirit behind the creation of Pakistan “rooted in the ideology of the Two Nation Theory” and stressing that the country knew how to defend its hard-earned freedom. In his address at the Azadi Parade marking the country’s 76th independence anniversary, the army chief said the nation had “maintained this tradition of celebrating freedom, equality and quest for happiness, which we must continue to cherish”. The gathering was held at the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul late on Sunday. Gen Munir praised the country’s vast resources and the enthusiasm of its youth, urging them to remain steadfast in faith, unity and discipline. Acknowledging the myriad of challenges faced by the nation, from geopolitical wrangling to internal threats, the COAS struck a defiant tone. “Let me caution them all, in the words of our great Quaid, ‘There is no power on earth which can undo Pakistan’,” he said, asserting that the army stood ready to defend Pakistan’s sovereignty at all costs. Gen Munir also took the occasion to express solidarity with the people of held Kashmir, condemning the international community’s lack of action against Indian actions in the region. “It is for the conscience of the international community to realise that Indian excesses in Kashmir have gone unaddressed and the right to freedom and self-determination is being denied at the altar of geopolitical necessity,” he added.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 03
CONTINUED ON PAGE 03
Can Shehbaz Sharif really be credited with saving Pakistan from default?
g
After 16 months of intense fiscAl mAnAgement, question is who put pAkistAn so close to brink in first plAce? PROFIT
MEERUB AMIR
Praising his own achievements and defending his rule’s constitutional credentials, the PDM-appointed Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, bids farewell to his designation, as Pakistan turns 76, this independence day. The prime minister initiated his address by passing the baton on to the interim government. “We came into authority following the constitutional procedure, and we are relinquishing it in adherence to constitutional norms,” the prime minister conveyed to the citizens. He extended his congratulations to Senator Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar for his designation as the caretaker prime minister of the nation. “I am confident that… he [Kakar] will guarantee the conduct of impartial and
open elections in the country,” he added. The Prime Minister made a point of crediting his government with stabilising the economy. “Time and record will be a witness that we saved the country from possible default and consequent destruction,” he said emphasising the Stand-By Arrangement that was signed with the IMF by his government. As Sharif sees the back of his short lived stint in the PM office, it is important to look back and see how much truth there is to his claims of being the “knight in shining armour” for the downtrodden economy of Pakistan. When he first took charge of the office, the news of Shehbaz Sharif’s selection as the 31st Prime Minister of Pakistan in April last year was covered by The Guardian with an article titled, “Shehbaz Sharif: the diligent administrator now PM of Pakistan”.
This title is reflective of the reputation Shehbaz Sharif has managed to construct over the years of being Chief Minister Punjab where his mega infrastructure projects and development schemes are symbolic to shiny badges on his lapel, each alluding to his brilliance as an administrator. However, an exploration of Punjab’s social-economic landscape reveals that the systemic deficiencies of education and healthcare are persistent as they went severely unnoticed during Shehbaz’s tenure as CM. Such an assessment exposes an old political tactic of glossing over foundational weaknesses with tangible and short term solutions. This contextual background is pertinent to remember in order to understand why some Policymakers and Economists may not be applauding Shehbaz Sharif’s success in curbing the very real fear of Pakistan’s default.
As soon as he joined the PM office, Junior Sharif’s term was almost immediately met with an impending fear of the country’s default as external debts for the following fiscal year rose to $25 billion USD while Pakistan’s entire foreign exchange reserves stood at a concerning $4.1 billion USD. If the default had ensued, Pakistan would have experienced an unprecedented and complete economic meltdown including severe shortages of food, medicines, fuel, and even cash. Therefore, when the PDM government managed to successfully secure an IMF loan bailout of $3 billion US, which includes the immediate disbursal of about $1.2bn in June this year, Shehbaz was quick to add another accolade to his collection. However, similar to some precedents alluded to before, this achievement could seem
superficial and weak to a few. Afterall, should we really be appreciating Shehbaz Sharif’s shiny lapel if he’s the one, who is indeed responsible for pushing the country towards a grave economic catastrophe that required a bailout in the first place? Let us explain. There is no doubt that the events following former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s no-confidence vote left the economy in shambles with the Rupee plunging by 2% against the US dollar as well as setting nine all-time lowest levels in the interbank market against the greenback immediately after the motion unfolded. On top of that, the IMF program which was taken up by the PTI government in 2019, had immediately been halted and sabotaged, owing to the politicised subsidy on fuel provided by the then government.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 03