Hoping for God’s blessings, Ishaq Dar sets out to save Pakistan’s faltering economy

LONDON: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) senior leader Ishaq Dar has said he has his eyes set on putting Pakistan’s weakening economy back on track.

Speaking to Geo News before leaving for Pakistan with Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Ishaq Dar said he looked forward to taking oath as Pakistan’s Finance Minister and then do his best to stabilise the struggling economy.

Accepting that he faces an uphill task in Pakistan, Ishaq Dar said that with God’s blessings he hopes to bring the economy back to the stage it was at when the PMLN was last in power. “The whirlpool Pakistan went through in the last four years is hidden from no one. Fortunately, I am returning to the same office that I left five years back. This is Allah’s blessing,” Dar said.

The PMLN leader said that Pakistan’s economy, under Nawaz, was on its way to becoming one of the strongest global economies, with low-interest rates, decade-high growth, a stable rupee, and a huge forex reserve.

He said: “I pray to Allah to guide me to bring Pakistan in the same position that we took Pakistan to under Nawaz Sharif when we were set to become the 18th biggest economy of the world. We had the highest growth in decades. We had the highest reserves and micro and macro economic indicators were great. There was stability. This will be my aim,” the PML-N leader added. The senator-elect added that a “fake” case was concocted against him regarding the filing of taxes. “I have never failed to file taxes in my life but a fake case of non-filing of tax was registered against me,” the PMLN leader said.

Dar flew to Pakistan along with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif from Luton airport. He will take oath as a senator since despite being elected, he was in self-exile in London for the last five years. His return comes after Accountability Court Judge Mohammad Bashir suspended the arrest warrant — issued on December 11, 2017 — in the assets beyond means case.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday reserved verdict on a petition seeking to declare Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) Senior Leader Ishaq Dar’s Senate seat as vacant for not taken oath to his office.

Ishaq Dar’s counsel Salman Aslam Butt appeared before the commission. During hearing, ECP member observed that the government had issued an ordinance stipulating that if a member did not take oath of his Senate seat in 60 deays it would be deemed vacant. Counsel Butt argued that Dar’s notification of winning Senate seat was issued on March 09, 2018 and it was suspended on March 29, same year. After dismissal of a petition from Supreme Court, that notification was restored. The lawyer argued that the ordinance did not apply to Ishaq Dar as he could not take oath of his seat when the notification of his success was suspended.

Dar’s lawyer contended that under Article 63-P, no one could be disqualified under a law introduced through an ordinance whichhas already lapsed. Salman Butt also contended that the ordinance enacted by the PTI government was unconstitutional.