In this file photo taken on January 16, 2016, spokesman for the Balochistan government, Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar, speaks during an interview with AFP in Quetta. (Photo by Banaras Khan / AFP)
Islamabad: A little-known senator from Pakistan's least-populous province will be caretaker prime minister to see the country through to the next election, the leader of the opposition said Saturday.
Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, from Balochistan Province, was named by opposition leader Raja Riaz Ahmad following a meeting with outgoing premier Shehbaz Sharif.
"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.
Kakar will lead Pakistan through to the next general and provincial elections due by November, but which some officials have already said will be delayed until next year.
The country has been in political turmoil since former international cricket star Imran Khan was dismissed as premier by a no-confidence vote in April 2022, culminating in him being jailed last weekend for three years for graft.
Authorities have cracked down hard against Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in recent months, crushing his grassroots power by rounding up thousands of his supporters and officials.
Parliament was officially dissolved on Wednesday with elections due within 90 days according to the constitution.
But there has been speculation for months that they would be delayed as the establishment grapples to stabilise a country facing overlapping security, economic and political crises.
Data from the latest census carried was finally published last weekend and the outgoing government said the election commission needs time to redraw constituency boundaries.
Asked this week on television if a vote would take place this year, interior minister Rana Sanaullah replied: "An absolutely straightforward answer -- No."
The election commission has yet to comment.
Last month parliament rushed through legislation that gives the caretaker government more power to negotiate with global bodies such as the International Monetary Fund, another clue it may be around for a while.
Some analysts think the delay could give time for the main coalition partners -- the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) -- to figure out how to address the challenge of Khan's PTI.
"But in reality, delaying the election could simply anger the public more and galvanise an opposition that has already suffered through months of crackdowns," said Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center.
