Kakar says parliament has empowered the Commission to announce poll date n Caretaker govt has no intention to prolong its tenure n No restriction on PTI to contest elections n Operation against smuggling will continue n Terrorists can’t take away an inch of Pak territory.
ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar Monday reiterated the Election Commission of Pakistan would decide about the date for the upcoming elections.
The prime minister, in an interview with a private television, said the Parliament had passed a law according to which the ECP had the power to announce the date for new elections.
Speculations regarding the elections should end which would be held according to the prevalent law, he said, adding, “We have no intention to prolong the tenure of the caretaker government.”
He said as a student of the history of Pakistan, he would express gratitude to the 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 the Muslims if the Quaid had not secured an independent state for the Muslims.
He said he admired the 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.
“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. However, 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 added.
PM Kakar 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 neighbours 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 the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for taking part in the elections.
Talking about the incidents of May 9, he said miscreants resorted to vandalism and arson, and the whole incidents were reported by the local and international media. The accused involved in the incidents would be dealt with according to the law of the land, he added.
He said Nawaz Sharif was a thrice elected prime minister and when he would come back to Pakistan he would be treated according to the law.
He clarified that he had no intention to start meetings with the leadership of political parties. To a question about the 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 the United States was anxious about it and wanted to contain its influence.
Pakistan had adopted the policy of Look Africa to improve its relations with that 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 the 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 to resolve issues facing the education sector with a focused attention.
He said the government would soon decide about the issue of giving relief to the electricity consumers. Earlier in the day, President Arif Alvi held another round of consultation with Federal Law Minister Irfan Aslam to decide possible dates for next general elections.
“Federal Law Minister Irfan Aslam called on President Alvi and consulted on dates for next general elections,” said a short statement from the President House here.
The statement said the meeting was held in the context of ongoing consultation for the general elections.
The President said the continuation of consultation process with sincerity is positive for democracy in the country.
Credible sources told The nation that President Alvi is expected to announce the date for general elections any time as he has completed the consultations process.
When asked to comment whether under the Constitution the president of Pakistan can give date for the general elections, senior constitutional expert and advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan Hafiz Ehsan Ahmed Khokhar said that any announcement of the date for elections by the president would be against the Constitution. He further said that in such scenario, the Election Commission of Pakistan is not bound to act upon the advice of the president for holding general elections.
Khokhar further said that the process of Article 51(5) of the Constitution is underway in pursuance of delimitations and electoral roles which prevents president to announce any possible date for general elections, which may disrupt this process.
Ehsan Ahmed said that president can only have the power to announce the election schedule under Article 48(5) when vote of no-confidence is succeeded against leader of the house/prime minister in the national assembly and no one in the national assembly is able to become the leader of the house by getting the majority of the total members of the national assembly. He said in such situation under the Article 224 of the Constitution read with 218 and 219 read with recently amended sections 57 and 58 of the election act 2017, is the constitutional obligation of only ECP to announce the date for general elections, and not the president.
Ehsan concluded that if the president announces any date for general elections, it would trigger a constitutional crisis in the country.