Kakar vows to conduct free, fair elections without opposition or favour to any group

“I assure that the election process will be transparent and free" he told a Turkish media outlet

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Caretaker Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar has said that there will be no opposition or support to a particular group at the administrative level in the upcoming general elections in the country.

In an exclusive interview with a Turkish media outlet, the caretaker premier said: “I assure that the election process will be transparent and free.

“We are entering into the electoral process; the time span which has been given to the interim government, is according to the law and the constitution,” Kakar continued.

He said delimitation of constituencies afresh was a constitutional demand, and “we should abide by this regulation if we believe in supremacy of the constitution.”

Regarding May 9 mayhem, he said people have the right to express their sentiments, but without resorting to violence. “We can't allow vandalism in the name of protest. Such kind of situation is not acceptable under any democratic system.”

About alleged US involvement in the ouster of the PTI government, the caretaker PM said many party leaders retracted from that allegation.

He claimed that in some Asian states, political leaders sometimes do such acts for gaining popularity. “As a responsible caretaker government, we ensure that no one can meddle with our domestic affairs.”

He said the PTI chief was ousted constitutionally, without any military intervention.

Shedding light on the civil-military relations, he 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.

On relations with Afghanistan, he 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. “Some banned groups like TTP have training camps in Afghanistan, which is a point of concern for us.”

He expressed the hope that Islamabad would engage with Kabul despite some challenges in relationships as it is in common interest of both the nations.

About Pakistan-India relations, he said “we are open for a meaningful dialogue with all our neighbours.

“We do want peace with India but only peace with justice. Being the so-called biggest democracy of the world, India should resolve the issue of Kashmir on the basis of UN resolutions,” the caretaker premier concluded.

‘MISUNDERSTOOD AND MISREPORTED’

The caretaker government on Tuesday said under the constitution and prevalent electoral laws, all political parties had the equal right to participate in the general elections and categorically stated that the remarks of the caretaker prime minister during a recent interview to the foreign wire service Associated Press had been “misunderstood and misreported”.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in its official statement issued the original text from the Associated Press to clarify that Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar was plainspeaking to suggest that whereas participating in the elections was a right, but retribution for crimes was legally warranted.

The ministry lamented that the interview had been “twisted by some outlets” to give the impression that someone will not be allowed to take part in the general elections.

The ministry drew attention to the following text of Prime Minister’s interview:

“We are not pursuing anyone on a personal vendetta,” Kakar said. “But yes, we will ensure that the law is appropriate. Anyone, be it Imran Khan or any other politician who violates, in terms of their political behavior, the laws of the country, then the restoration of the law has to be ensured. We cannot equate that with … political discrimination.”

Kakar said fair elections can take place without Khan or hundreds of members of his party who are jailed because they engaged in unlawful activities including vandalism and arson, a reference to the violence that rocked the country following Khan’s initial arrest in May.

The caretaker prime minister added that the thousands of people in Khan’s party who didn’t engage in unlawful activities, “will be running the political process, they will be participating in the elections.”

The Information Ministry reiterated in its statement that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its leaders are free to participate in the elections like any other party. It has been clarified that there is no impediment to contesting elections by any leader of PTI or the party as a whole.

The statement further added that every citizen is equal before law and the law will take its course with respect to any person currently facing legal charges. The courts are free and independent and the caretaker government has neither authority nor intention to influence the courts at any level.

It was further clarified that any person aggrieved by any order or ruling of a statutory or judicial forum has a constitutionally guaranteed right to approach the next forum in judicial hierarchy for relief.

“The caretaker government is committed to holding free and fair elections. The caretaker government will support the constitutional and legal structure for holding elections and would ensure that all orders and directions of the Election Commission of Pakistan and independent judiciary are complied with in letter and spirit,” the government said in its statement.