Pakistani President Arif Alvi on Saturday approved the appointment of Senator Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar as the caretaker prime minister ahead of the country's national elections.

The president has given the approval in terms of Article 224(1A) of the Constitution of Pakistan, according to a statement from the President House Media Wing.

Earlier, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, after detailed consultations with the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, or the lower house of the parliament, Raja Riaz, forwarded a summary to this effect to the president for approval, according to a statement from the Prime Minister's Office.

Kakar has been a member of the Senate of Pakistan since March 2018. He was elected to the Senate of Pakistan as an independent candidate in the general seat from the southwest Balochistan province in the 2018 Pakistani Senate election.

He 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.

(With input from Xinhua, AFP)

(Cover: The parliament house building in Islamabad, Pakistan, August 9, 2023. /CFP)