Can’t go beyond our constitutional mandate: PM Kakar

 

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar has said that his interim government cannot go beyond its constitutional mandate, hoping that the Election Commission of Pakistan will complete the process of constituencies’ delimitations in proper time, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

The caretaker premier expressed these views while interacting with foreign media representatives in Islamabad on Tuesday.

“We cannot go beyond our constitutional mandate. We can make short-term reforms, the future of which will be decided by the next elected government,” he maintained.

PM Kakar was of the view that under the constitution, fresh demarcation of the constituencies was necessary after the new census. We hope that the Election Commission will complete the process well within the stipulated time, he added.

Govt can’t introduce big reforms

He said that his interim government constitutionally could not introduce big changes in the system of governance, its primary constitutional responsibility was to provide assistance for holding polls in the country.

The caretaker premier said that his government was running the economic and financial affairs while remaining within the scope.

He said that it’s the parliament’s job to allocate the budget for all sectors. He said that his government’s priority was to advance the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) initiative under which foreign investment would be brought in the agriculture, mining, and minerals sectors.

FBR, energy sectors need reforms

Kakar underlined the need to bring about structural reforms in the country. He mentioned two sectors i.e. FBR and energy, where reforms were necessary.

He further informed that privatization of some power distribution companies was on the cards.

Vows level playing field for all parties in election

On the issue of providing a level playing field to all political parties in the forthcoming general elections, Kakar held that all registered political parties in Pakistan had the freedom to participate in the election process.

Allied forces’ modern weapons fallen into militants’ hands big challenge

The caretaker prime minister lamented that the modern weapons left by the US and allies in Afghanistan were a big challenge as these weapons had unfortunately fallen into the hands of militants.

He said that Pakistan had been saying that it had to face the negative situation after the withdrawal of allied forces from Afghanistan.

But we cannot give in before this challenge and we are taking appropriate measures to protect the international community, he added.

PM Kakar called upon the international community to look at Pakistan as a responsible country.

He opined that Afghan Taliban were passing through an interim phase and they should be allowed some space.

Civil-military leadership moving forward together

The caretaker premier said that the civil-military leadership was moving forward together. An example of the best civil-military coordination was seen in Batagram, he maintained.