We are entering into electoral process quite soon & it is according to the law & the Constitution: Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar
ISLAMABAD, Sep 26 (SABAH): Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar has said that there would be no organisational or institutional involvement in favour of any political party in the upcoming general elections, pledging to ensure free and fair polls.
“We are entering into the electoral process quite soon and it is according to the law and the Constitution,” said the caretaker prime minister while speaking during an exclusive interview on “TRT World’s The Newsmakers”.
Caretaker PM Kakar said delimitation of constituencies is a constitutional requirement, and “we should abide by this regulation if we believe in the supremacy of the constitution”.
Speaking about the May 9 protests, Caretaker PM Kakar said people have the right to express their sentiments under prescribed law but “we can’t allow vandalism in the name of protest or if people are going violent then that kind of situation is not acceptable under any democratic system”.
Regarding the alleged involvement of the United States in the PTI chief’s ouster from power in April 2022 via a no-confidence vote, Caretaker PM Kakar said that the PTI has backtracked on its ‘foreign conspiracy’ narrative.
“How would me or anyone in Pakistan would believe in such a conspiracy […] when people who brought it to the public domain backtracked on that and said that it was probably for public consumption,” he maintained.
Caretaker PM Kakar further said that in some Asian states, political leaders sometimes do such acts for populist reasons. He said the caretaker government would ensure that no one can meddle in our domestic affairs, adding that Imran Khan was ousted constitutionally.
Shedding light on the civil-military relations in Pakistan, Kakar said in the past Pakistani political leaders sought the military’s help for their political interests and once they were out of power, they started criticising the institution to shift the onus of their failure.
He said the only institution that has the organisational capability left in Pakistan is the military and “anyone who is dealing with governance has to rely on it to meet the challenges”.
On domestic politics, the prime minister said political differences shouldn’t be converted into enmities as this practice leads to the “death of democracy”.
Shedding light on the civil-military relations in Pakistan, Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said Pakistani political leaders had political alliance with military for their own political interests and once they are out of the power they start criticizing the institution to shift the onus of their own failure.
He said the only institution that has the organizational capability left with us is military and anyone who is dealing with governance has to rely on it to meet the challenges.
Talking about terrorist attacks and relations with Afghanistan, the Prime Minister said we have been facing such attacks almost for fifteen years and we are trying to counter it by kinetic and non-kinetic measures and we have been successful to manage that to a certain level.
He said we are dealing with different layers of authorities in Afghanistan and some are spoiling the peace. He said some banned organizations like TTP have training camps in Afghanistan, which is a point of concern for us. He expressed hope that we will engage with Afghans despite some challenges in our relationships as it is in common interest of both the nations.
Replying to a query about Pakistan-India relations, he said we are quite open for a meaningful dialogue with all our neighbors. The Prime Minister said we do want peace with India but only peace with justice. Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said being the so called champion of world’s biggest democracy, India should resolve the issue of Kashmir on the basis of UN Resolutions.