Forever technocrats

FINANCE ministers in Pakistan are familiar faces, as familiar as SRK was to those who were young in the 1990s, and Bachchan to those who grew up in the 1970s. However, the reason that the men and the occasional woman who lord it over Q Block are well-known is not because they are Bollywood hero material but because, like Dev Anand, they have just been around forever. Consider our current finance minister, Shamshad Akhtar. She first joined government service back in the Musharraf years, when she became part of the State Bank, by which time she had already spent years working. She has also served as caretaker finance minister earlier. Hafeez Shaikh was no different. He, too, joined the Musharraf regime to serve in more than one position before returning later once the general/ chief executive/ president had ceded to democracy and the government led by the PPP. Having returned to Q Block during the time of the PTI government, he remained there until he was unceremoniously removed. However, each time there have been rumours of a caretaker or technocratic set-up being put together, he has topped the list, if gossip is to be believed. As a point of reference, Musharraf took over 24 years ago and was removed from government 15 years ago.