Govt appoints Shaukat Tarin as PM’s adviser on finance, revenue

ISLAMABAD: The government has appointed Shaukat Tarin, formerly the finance minister, as an adviser to Prime Minister Imran Khan on finance and revenue, a notification confirmed on Monday.

“The president, on the advice of the prime minister, has been pleased to appoint, with immediate effect, Shaukat Fayyaz Ahmed Tarin as Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue, with the status of [the] federal minister,” said the notification, issued by the Cabinet Division.

According to Radio Pakistan, President Arif Alvi, on the recommendation of the premier, appointed Tarin as the adviser on finance and revenue with the status of a federal minister.

Tarin was appointed as the finance minister on April 17 this year, and his constitutional tenure had ended on October 16. He needed to be elected to parliament to continue in his post for longer than six months after his appointment.

Earlier, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had decided to get Tarin elected as a senator from Punjab or Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).

Tarin was the fourth finance minister appointed by PM Imran after Asad Umar, Hafeez Shaikh and Hammad Azhar had been given the same portfolio. He has also held the finance ministry in the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), a Washington, D.C.-based network of reporters and media organizations, at the start of this month had leaked documents with names of 35 current and former national leaders and more than 330 politicians and officials in 91 countries and regions with secret stores of wealth.

Tarin was among the other PTI leaders, including Faisal Vawda, Abdul Aleem Khan and Khusro Bakhtiar, identified in the infamous investigation. Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid’s (PML-Q) Chaudhry Moonis Elahi, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Ishaq Dar’s son and Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) Sharjeel Memon were also among the 700 people with alleged links to offshore companies.

Tain denied wrongdoing. However, the opposition has been urging PM Imran to remove the ministers named in the Pandora Papers.