ISLAMABAD: Former finance minister Ishaq Dar, a close aide of three time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, on Tuesday said his plans to return to Pakistan next month after living in self-imposed exile in London for over four years were “almost confirmed,” the BBC reported.
Dar was considered one of the most influential people in Sharif’s cabinet, formed after a 2013 general election, but he left for the UK in October 2017 to seek medical treatment after Sharif was disqualified by the Supreme Court for not declaring a small source of income. The court ordered an investigation into Sharif, his children and Dar, who is also Sharif’s former accountant.
Dar himself was also disqualified from office by the Supreme Court in July 2017. Months later, after he left for London, he was charged in absentia by an anti-corruption court in Pakistan for amassing wealth beyond known sources of income. The former finance tzar says the case is politically motivated.
“My intention to return to Pakistan next month is almost confirmed,” he told BBC Urdu, adding that his health treatment was expected to be completed in the next 10-12 days.
When asked about cases registered against him in Pakistan, Dar said there was only one and that is a “fake case registered by Imran Niazi [Khan],” referring to the now ousted PM who won 2018 elections after Sharif’s ouster.
In 2019, the government of ex-PM Khan suffered a blow when Interpol rejected its demand to issue a Red Notice, to seek the location and arrest of persons wanted for prosecution or to serve a sentence, against Dar.
“That is why when the government of Imran Khan contacted Interpol to bring me back to Pakistan, the documents that were given to Interpol had no substance in them, hence Interpol cleared me,” Dar added.
During his last term as finance minister from 2013 to 2017, Dar was initially lauded for steering Pakistan out of a balance of payments crisis and returning the nuclear-armed country toward a higher growth trajectory.
But he also faced criticism for his refusal to allow the rupee to weaken to ease macroeconomic pressures, and is accused of eroding the central bank’s independence.
Reports that Dar will return to Pakistan have raised concerns about whether he would replace current Finance Minister Miftah Ismail, who is trying to negotiate the resumption of a stalled $6 billion IMF bailout program.