Who is Pakistan's caretaker PM Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar?

Anwaarul Haq has been a member of the Senate of Pakistan since March 2018. His name was finalised by Shehbaz Sharif and Raja Riaz on Saturday.

Pakistani senator from Balochistan Awami Party Anwaarul Haq Kakar has been named the caretaker prime minister of Pakistan, days after the assembly was dissolved. Kakkar's name as the caretaker PM was announced on Saturday from the Prime Minister's Office. Outgoing PM Shehbaz Sharif and outgoing opposition leader Raja Riaz reached a consensus over Kakar's name in a meeting on Saturday. President Arif Alvi approved Kakar's appointment.

Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar is a little known politician who is now going to be the caretaker PM of Pakistan until elections are held.

"We first agreed that whoever should be prime minister, he should be from a smaller province so smaller provinces' grievances should be addressed," said Riaz, as quoted by AFP.

The assembly was dissolved on August 9 setting the stage for a general election in which former PM Imran Khan will not be able to participate. According to the rules, the election will be held within 90 days after the assembly was dissolved.

Pakistan elections are to be held later this year but only after delimitation. New census results have been approved by the outgoing government, which makes it a constitutional obligation to carry out delimitation before elections. The interim PM will have extra power this time as the elections are likely to get delayed as much as by six months because of the delimitation exercise.

Who is Anwaarul Haq, Pakistan's caretaker PM?

1. Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar is not a very well-known politician in Pakistan but his province Balochistan holds significance because of insurgency.

2. Though listed as an independent candidate in the Senate, Kakar is from Balochistan Awami Party which is widely considered to be close to the country's powerful military.

3. Anwaarul Haq has been a member of the Senate of Pakistan since March 2018.

4. Anwaar was elected in 2018 as an independent candidate from Balochistan.

5. Anwaarul Haq Kakar undertook the role of parliamentary leader from the Balochistan Awami Party within the Senate.

6. Kakar was the chairperson of the Senate Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development. He was a member of the Business Advisory Committee, Finance and Revenue, Foreign Affairs and Science and Technology.