Ishaq Dar appointed deputy prime minister

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has appointed Ishaq Dar as deputy prime minister, a notification has also been issued by the Cabinet Division.

Prior to Dar's appointment, the position of deputy prime minister had been vacant since June 2012, when Chaudhry Pervez Elahi of PML-Q held the role.

Dar has a history of serving in various ministerial capacities, including as federal minister for commerce and investment during Nawaz Sharif's government from 1997 to 1999, and twice as federal minister for finance, economic affairs, revenue, and statistics in 1998-1999 and 2008.

Before his tenure as a federal minister, Dar held the position of minister of state/chief executive of Pakistan Investment Board (PIB) from 1992 to 1993, and he also had a stint as president of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

In 2008, Dar briefly served as federal finance minister before resigning from the position when PML-N decided to withdraw from the PPP-led coalition government.

He later resumed the role of finance minister in Nawaz Sharif's government in 2013. Dar was reappointed as finance minister from September 2022 until the end of the coalition government's term in August 2023.

Despite his longstanding expertise in finance within the PML-N, Dar was appointed as the minister of foreign affairs in March of this year by PM Shehbaz, while the finance portfolio was assigned to Muhammad Aurangzeb.