Former bureaucrat and ambassador Jalil Abbas Jillani is set to serve as the next caretaker Prime Minister until the next general election.
Jilani’s name surfaced as the government is closer to dissolve the National Assembly of Pakistan today, on Wednesday, ending tenure of 16 months.
As several politicians, economists, and technocrats were poised to get the role of caretaker PM, Jalil Jilani is a strong contender, who reportedly visited Prime Minister’s House on Wednesday.
Jilani, 68, hailed from Multan and belongs to an influential family known for top politicians and high-profile officeholders. The former envoy is the cousin of ex-Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani.
He is the son-in-law and nephew of Makhdoum Salahuddin Jillani and elder brother of former CJP Tassadaq Jilani.
The influential bureaucrat got his bachelors from Oxford and later got Masters’s in Defense and Strategic Studies. Jilani joined Foreign Service in 1979.
He served in many important positions during his decades-long career. He served as Pakistan’s foreign secretary and was posted in several nations including the US, and EU. Before his retirement, he retired serving in Grade-22 as the Foreign Secretary.
Jilani was previously posted to Washington, Belgium, Luxemburg, Australia, and the EU. The noted diplomat is said to be an expert in South Asian affairs.
In the 90s, he served as the deputy secretary at PM Office and was posted as the deputy high commissioner to India in the early 2000s. He also served in UK and UK and served as director general of South Asia & SAARC.
Jilani was commissioned Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Australia and served until 2009, and acted as the Ambassador of Pakistan to the EU. Later, Jilani was promoted to the highest rank of BPS-22 grade, becoming the country’s Foreign Secretary in March.
He was later nominated as a member of the Experts and Eminent Persons Group (EEP) of the ASEAN Regional Forum and was shifted to the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) and the United States Institute of Peace (USIP).
Jalil Abbas Jilani poised to become next ‘caretaker prime minister of Pakistan’
