Ishaq Dar involved in several corruption cases to be Pak's new FM

RAWALPINDI: Senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Ishaq Dar, who has been involved in several corruption cases, returned to Pakistan on Monday night as the minister is ready to take charge as the finance minister of the country replacing Miftah Ismail today.

The former Pakistan minister arrived at the Nur Khan Airbase in Chaklala, Rawalpindi where he was accompanied by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on his trip back to the country from London, reported Dawn.

Earlier, in May, the Pakistan court issued a perpetual arrest warrant against former Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in "corruption reference." The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had filed the reference against Dar, who has been declared an absconder in the case since he has missed hearings owing to his prolonged stay in London, that the former Minister had acquired assets beyond his known sources of income, Dawn newspaper reported.

However last week, an accountability court suspended an outstanding arrest warrant against Dar, paving the way for the former finance minister's return from London.

"I will try my best to fulfill all the responsibilities. We will try to take out the country from the economic swamp it is stuck in [...] the way we did in 1998-1999 and 2013-2014," Dawn reported quoting Dar as he told reporters at the airport on his return.

According to media reports, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a meeting with party supremo Nawaz Sharif in London on Saturday, where it was decided that the ruling coalition would hand over the finance ministry to Ishaq Dar after he returns to the country.

The resignation of Ismail comes after continued speculation that former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was unhappy with some of his key decisions, including the hike in fuel prices. The Express Tribune reported that this move is aimed to regain its lost political clout right ahead of the next general elections.

The leaders who attended the key London meeting were Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, and outgoing finance minister Miftah Ismail.

Other party leaders including Ishaq Dar and Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan also attended this meeting. The government leaders did not fall short of blaming former PM Imran Khan-led PTI for bringing the country's economy to ruins.

The participants said that the incumbent government had to "put out the fire of economic disaster" caused by the previous PTI-led regime.