An exit foretold

Reports that Ishaq Dar, now the ex-finance minister, is on ‘leave of absence’ this having been granted by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi are no surprise. Whilst he will leave his post as finance minister he is to retain his seat in the cabinet, which given that the cabinet is already at its maximum membership creates an interesting situation in the event of a replacement being made. The finance portfolio is to be held by the PM in the meantime and it is said that Mr Dar suggests that there be an advisory committee constituted to look into economic issues in his absence and anyway prior to any fresh appointment.

The matter of Mr Dar’s health and particularly his cardiac problem have been known and well documented for at least the last two years. Concerns have been expressed about his health by his colleagues both on and off the record, and we have no doubt that his extended stay in London for medical reasons is entirely valid and we wish him a speedy recovery — but there are serious and urgent questions that need to be asked and answered.

It appears that he has been running the finance ministry by remote control from London using email and WhatsApp since 27^th October, a circumstance that could not be allowed to continue. He is in deep trouble with the courts wanting to inquire into the sources of his wealth, another of the many outcomes of the Panama Papers affair and the parlous state of the national finances sits at nobody’s door but his. His return is unlikely to be in the foreseeable future, his health notwithstanding. He is reported to have refused to leave his post despite requests from the premier and the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and he now stands as an absconder the courts having rejected his requests for exemption for appearance before them. Thus falls yet another of the mighty as the fallout from the Panama Papers continues to cull the upper echelons of the PML-N. Repairing the national finances is an uphill task, and with the 2018 election knocking the door the Four Horsemen of the Financial Apocalypse are saddling up.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 24^th, 2017.

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