Only ECP has power to announce election date: Caretaker PM Kakar

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar said Monday that only Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has power to announce election date.

While talking to a private news channel, PM Anwaarul Haq Kakar said the ECP would decide about the date for the upcoming elections. He said Parliament had passed a law according to which election commission had the power to announce the date for new elections.

Speculation regarding the elections should end as these would be held according to the prevalent law, he said adding, “We have no intention to prolong tenure of the caretaker government.”

He said as a student of history of Pakistan, he would express gratitude to Quaid-e-Azam for protecting rights of the Muslim minority and saving it from the domination of majority.

After seeing the attitude of bigger states against the minorities, he said he could see that it would have been difficult to protect the religious and cultural identity of Muslims if Quaid had not secured an independent state for Muslims.

He said he admired Quaid-e-Azam for his constitutionalism, all- inclusiveness and for protection of rights of minorities.

The prime minister assured that action against smuggling would continue and the writ of the state would be established, the state news agency quoted PM Kakar as saying.

“We are taking these actions so that the new government with its mandate can easily continue our work for public interest.”

He said the apex committee of Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) included current military leadership, thus making the council a strong constitutional and legal body which was taking firm actions and implementing decisions.

The caretaker federal and provincial governments had good coordination which was helpful in implementing decisions, he noted.

He said the SIFC was focusing on economic revival and on sectors of agriculture and mineral extraction.

Work would be done on major plans of investment so that they could be at an advanced stage when the next government would take over, he told.

He said Pakistan had multifaceted relations with Afghanistan and had regular discussions with it on issues of trade, terrorism, security and regional connectivity.

Both sides were talking with the realization that neighbors could not be changed, he added.

To a question about rising incidents of terrorism in the country, he said the terrorists had now more latest weapons, night vision goggles and other equipment which had increased their capacity to fight.

However, he made it clear that the terrorists could not take away an inch of territory of Pakistan and the security forces would respond and manage the situation.

The state would show its firmness against terrorists as in no condition anyone would be allowed to resort to violence, he stressed.

PM Kakar said there was no restriction on Pakistan Tehreek i Insaf (PTI) for taking part in the elections.

Talking about incidents of May 9, he said miscreants resorted to vandalism and arson and the whole incident was reported by the local and international media.

The accused involved in the incident would be dealt with according to the law of the land, he continued.

He said Nawaz Sharif was thrice elected prime minister and when he would come back to Pakistan he would be treated according to law.

He clarified that he had no intention to start meetings with the leadership of political parties.

To a question about Pakistan’s foreign policy, he said Pakistan had good relations with all countries, adding China was on the verge of becoming the largest economy of the world and the western world led by US was anxious about it and wanted to contain its influence.

Pakistan had adopted the policy of Look Africa to improve its relations with the continent which had a population of more than a billion people, he informed.

He said Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman would visit Pakistan on a mutually agreed time when both sides would be ready to announce projects for investment.

Responding to a question, he said Kashmir was part of body, soul and collective memory of Pakistan and Kashmiris aligned themselves with Pakistan.

The PM said sports including cricket should not be politicized and the issues concerning cricket with India should only be raised by officials of cricket board.

“We are making Pakistan a secure country for sports. But we cannot force a country to play in Pakistan,” he commented.

He said he met with vice-chancellors of universities in a meeting during his visit to Quetta and now he would meet with officials of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) to resolve issues facing the education sector with focused attention.

He said the government would soon decide about the issue of giving relief to the electricity consumers.