ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has given a go ahead signal to Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh to continue as his adviser on finance.
He was talking to Dr Hafeez after getting vote of confidence from the National Assembly on Saturday at the Parliament House.
Dr Hafeez Shaikh had lost the Senate elections to PDM candidate Yusaf Raza Gilani.
Dr Hafeez was given the portfolio of adviser and asked to perform duties of finance minister on Dec 10, 2020, by the prime minister. He was to be required to become a member of the parliament within six months under the constitutional requirement. Now the government has June 10, 2021, deadline, to get him in the parliament, therefore he had been asked to continue. After that, he would again be appointed as adviser.
It is, however, unclear that if Dr Hafeez could not become a member of parliament till June 10, who will be the finanace minister.
Sources say the PTI is considering the possibility of making another attempt to get him elected as a senator from Punjab by de-seating Senator-elect Ishaq Dar who has not taken oath of the office.
They say that the key reason to retain Dr Hafeez is his connections in the international financial institutions, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), that are critical for Pakistan for the revival of the stalled bailout package.
