Opp wary of Dar's return as coalition partners cheer

While the PML-N’s decision to change horses in midstream and replace Miftah Ismail with former finance minister Ishaq Dar has received assent and nods from the coalition partners, the opposition has vehemently criticised it.

Throwing shade at Dar’s return, former federal minister Chaudhry Moonis Elahi quipped in a statement that the minister “who emptied the national treasury to fill the coffers of the Sharifs is coming back”.

The PML-Q leader jeered Ishaq Dar as “dollar Dar” and questioned, “Does the uncrowned king of money laundering deserve to be the finance minister of Pakistan or to be put in jail?”

“Imported thieves of the imported government na-manzoor (not acceptable),” he added.

The statement comes after Miftah Ismail stepped down as finance minister for Ishaq Dar a day ago. Swirling speculations had remained unconfirmed until two days ago when Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah confirmed Dar's homecoming.

The decision to appoint Dar as financial czar appears to be a desperate move by the bigwigs of the PML-N not only to revive the country’s faltering economy but to regain its lost political capital ahead of the next general elections.

Last week, an accountability court had suspended an outstanding arrest warrant against Dar, paving the way for the former finance minister’s return from London who finally did return on Monday night after a self-exile of nearly five years.

'Effort to improve economy'

On the other hand, Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-F (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman fully backed the decision and saw it as a good omen.

Talking to the media in Lahore, the PDM chief said that replacing Miftah was “an effort to improve the economy”.

Hitting back at the criticism, he recalled that around five finance ministers had been changed during PTI chief Imran Khan's tenure “but today the decision to replace Miftah is being criticised”.

“Besides, we have inherited a destroyed Pakistan from the hands of Imran Khan,” he said and pointed out the ‘silver lining’ that at least today “we are crying because of inflation, God forbid, not because the country is being destroyed”.

The biggest attempt to destroy a country is triggering political instability, he stressed.

He claimed that political instability was brought to the country through Panama Papers and economic instability was brought through Imran Khan, a “conspiracy” which he believed was orchestrated by “international institutions”.

Maulana also said that the incumbent government is only concerned with putting the country on the path of improvement. “The primary role in controlling the dollar is that of the State Bank of Pakistan, whose reins have been given to the IMF,” he regretted.

“We have taken over the control and we are working to save Pakistan instead of carrying out rallies,” he added.