Ishaq Dar

Early life and education

Muhammad Ishaq Dar has a bachelor's degree in commerce from the Hailey College of Commerce of the University of the Punjab in Lahore, which he attended from 1966 to 1969. He then attended Government College University in Lahore. Reportedly, Dar was awarded two gold medals and a roll of honor for first position in B. Com. (Hons) at the University of Punjab.

Dar became an Associate Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales in 1974, where he achieved his certification in chartered accountancy. He was one of the youngest Pakistanis at the time to have passed the professional qualification in the minimum time period. In 1975 he became associate member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan. He obtained fellowship in the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales in 1980 and in the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan in 1984. Currently, he is a fellow member of the Pakistan Institute of Public Finance Accountants and of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Early career

Professionally, Dar is a chartered accountant. After having worked as director of finance in a London-based textile corporation from 1974 to 1976, Dar moved to Libya in 1976 and worked as senior auditor in the Office of the Auditor General's Department in Tripoli.

He has been a director of the World Bank, as Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors at the Asian Development Bank and as a Governor of the Islamic Development Bank. From 2002 to 2008, during the Pervez Musharraf rule in Pakistan, he moved to the United Arab Emirates where he was a financial adviser to a member of the ruling family of the United Arab Emirates. On returning to Pakistan in 1977, he became partner in a chartered accountant firm, and in 1980 he became financial adviser to a multinational construction company. Dar served as president of Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry in 1993.

Political career

Dar began his political career in the late 1980s with Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML (N)) as a member of its central executive committee. During the first government of PML (N), he held his first public office as chief executive of the Pakistan Board of Investment with the status of the Minister of State from 1992 until 1993 when the government of PML (N) was dismissed by then President of Pakistan Ghulam Ishaq Khan.

After new parliamentary elections were called for 1993, Dar ran for a seat in the National Assembly of Pakistan from Lahore NA-95 constituency in by-election after the seat was vacated by Nawaz Sharif and was successfully elected for the first time by obtaining 39,483 votes as a candidate of PML (N). His tenure as Member of the National Assembly was terminated after the dissolution of the National Assembly in 1996 due to the dismissal of the Benazir Bhutto government by then President of Pakistan Farooq Leghari.

After new snap elections were called for 1997, Dar ran for a National Assembly seat and was successfully re-elected from Lahore NA-97 constituency by obtaining 61,556 votes as a candidate of PML (N). His party, PML-N, had won a clear majority in the National Assembly for the first time. That same year, Dar was inducted into the cabinet of Nawaz Sharif and was appointed as the Minister for Commerce with the status of a federal minister. After Pakistan tested its nuclear weapons in May 1998, the world responded with heavy sanctions against Pakistan. The economy plummeted, so Dar was given the additional cabinet portfolio of Minister for Finance for the first time. He helped conclude negotiations for an International Monetary Fund rescue package to meet an economic crisis that had been triggered by the sanctions. Dar continued to serve in both cabinet positions until the 1999 Pakistani coup d'état, during which then-Chief of Army Staff, General Pervez Musharraf, overthrew Nawaz Sharif and his existing elected government. Dar spent nearly two years in jail under Musharraf over corruption charges that never went to trial. His tenure as Member of the National Assembly was also terminated after the dissolution of the National Assembly in 1999. Dar kept the PML-N alive during Musharraf's rule.

In 2003, Dar returned to Pakistan after several months’ of stay outside Pakistan. He ran for a seat of the Senate of Pakistan and was successfully elected for the first time for a term of three years. During his tenure as Member of the Senate, he served as Parliamentary Leader of PML-N in the Senate. He was re-elected to the Senate in the 2006 senate election, this time for six years.

After the formation of a coalition government between PPP and PML (N) with Yousaf Raza Gillani as Prime Minister, following the 2008 general election which resulted in a hung parliament where PPP had secured the largest seats in the National Assembly and PML (N), second largest, Dar was inducted into the cabinet of Yousaf Raza Gillani with the status of a federal minister in March 2008 and was re-appointed as the Minister for Finance. However, his tenure was short-lived after PML (N) left the PPP led coalition government in May 2008 to lead the movement to impeach Pervez Musharraf and to restore judiciary.

In 2011, Dar was decorated with Nishan-e-Imtiaz, the highest civil award given to Pakistani nationals, for his parliamentary service in Pakistan. However he refused to receive it from then President Asif Ali Zardari. Dar was elected as the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate in March 2012. He continued at his position as Opposition Leader until May 2013. Dar was re-elected to the Senate for the third time in the 2012 senate election, for six years. During his tenure as Member of the Senate, he served as a member of the Special Committee of the Parliament of Pakistan on Constitutional Reforms, and co-prepared and passed the 18th, the 19th, and the 20th amendments to the Constitution of Pakistan.

For the 2013 general election, Dar was made part of PML-N's central parliamentary board tasked with selecting candidates for the election. Upon the victory of PML (N) in the 2013 national election, Dar was inducted into the cabinet of Nawaz Sharif and was made the Minister for Finance with the status of a federal minister for the third time in June 2013. In 2014, Dar was made the chairman of the Special Parliamentary Committee on Election Reforms. He was also made the chairman of Economic Coordination Committee by Nawaz Sharif. During the third premiership of Nawaz Sharif, Dar was considered so powerful person in the government after Prime Minister that he was dubbed as de facto Deputy Prime Minister of Pakistan. He was serving as chairman of over 45 committees at one time. In 2016, Dar looked after important government matters when Nawaz Sharif underwent heart surgery in the United Kingdom.

In July 2016 the National Accountability Bureau cleared Dar in an over Rs 130 billion corruption case. Dar had previously claimed several times that he was facing no corruption case; however, the closing of an investigation against him negated his earlier claims. The NAB had included Dar's case in the list of 179 mega-corruption cases since 2001. It was reported that the case was closed due to "immense pressure" from within the NAB or from the federal government despite the fact that enough material was available against Dar.

In October 2016 the Emerging Markets newspaper, which was reportedly published by the International Monetary Fund/World Bank, declared Dar as 'Finance Minister of the year 2016 for South Asia'. The award was received by the Pakistan Ambassador to the United States Jalil Abbas Jilani on behalf of Dar. Following the award, several government officials jumped to congratulate him for winning such a 'prestigious' award. The International Monetary Fund said the newspaper did not belong to it and was an independent publication. It was noted that five Pakistani state-owned firms funded the Emerging Markets edition, which carried a supplement on Pakistan.

Dar was disqualified on 28 July 2017 by the Supreme Court of Pakistan to hold the office of Ministry of Finance after then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was also disqualified by the court following Panama Papers case decision. On the same day, he had ceased to hold ministerial office when the federal cabinet was disbanded after Nawaz Sharif resigned as Prime Minister. Following the election of Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as new Prime Minister in early August 2017, Dar was inducted into the federal cabinet of Abbasi despite his disqualification and an investigation was ordered against him by the Supreme Court and was re-appointed as the Minister for Finance for the fourth time After assuming the office of Prime Minister, Abbasi divided the Finance Ministry into separate entities thus minimizing the role of Dar in the federal government affairs. On 11 August 2017, he was removed as chairman of Economic Coordination Committee by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. On 20 August 2017, he was removed from the chairmanship of some 35 National Assembly committees by Shahid Khaqan Abbasi thus further reducing Dar's influence. Pakistan Today reported that the reason of confining Dar to Ministry of Finance only is on direction of the Sharif family.

Personal life

Dar belongs to a family of Kashmiri origin. He is considered an old loyalist of the Sharif family which goes back to the time when Dar, as a young clerk, began working in the Ittefaq Group owned by the Sharif family. In 2004 Dar's eldest son married Nawaz Sharif's daughter Asma Nawaz in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Dar runs two charitable organisations as well. These trusts reportedly work to provide shelter to the homeless, help financially deprived students, and arrange mass marriage events for needy couples.

Dar has declared worth of his assets standing at ₨583 million and investment of ₨325 million in Pakistan Investment Bonds. According to a report, Dar has invested £5.5 million in the United Arab Emirates.