Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Friday rejected reports about Ishaq Dar’s nomination for the caretaker prime minister as a rumour, asserting that no one in the incumbent government proposed the finance minister’s name for the post.
However, he did not rule out the possibility of a consensus. "In case there's a consensus that a politician can be appointed, then it can either be Ishaq Dar or any other politician from any party," he said while speaking to a private television channel.
The minister said Dar’s name for the coveted slot was neither suggested nor rejected, adding that the reports otherwise were mere speculations.
Talks were under way about whether a bureaucrat or a politician should be appointed, he added. However, he assured that the government would try to appoint a person acceptable to all sides.
The interior minister’s statement was the latest rejection from the government of the reports suggesting that the ruling PML-N, much to the chagrin of other coalition partners, had proposed Dar as the ultimate contender to be at the helm of the interim set-up.
While emphatically rejecting any such decision, the coalition parties had also apparently expressed misgivings about the purported proposal from the government.
The PPP had also expressed strong reservations on the reported selection of Dar for the interim PM’s post, saying a “man from the Sharif family” was not suitable to lead the “neutral” set-up.
Earlier, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif also seemingly blamed the media over reports of the PML-N looking to appoint Dar as the caretaker prime minister, saying that no such discussion had taken place during party meetings.
The PPP — an important ally at the Centre — has already said that no consensus has been reached on the matter and that a neutral person would be suitable for the coveted post.
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