Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar has said that the general elections on February 8 would bring political stability in the country. In an interview with a private television channel, he said the caretaker government successfully achieved most of the targets set by it and a white paper will be issued to enlist those successes. He said the next government will have to work with the International Monetary Fund and bring reforms in the taxation system to take the economy forward. The prime minister said the Special Investment Facilitation Council led the efforts to sign 25 billion dollars worth of memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Caretaker Prime Minister Kakar said all the political parties had a level playing field for taking part in the elections, with millions of voters having the opportunity to elect their representatives freely. In separate interviews with private news channels, he said it was priority of the caretaker government to hold peaceful elections and the Election Commission would be provided every support.

He dismissed the notion of a ban on social media or internet during the elections. He said members of the previous National Assembly used their constitutional right to remove the government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf through a vote of no-confidence. During the PTI government, he said, the nation faced numerous economic problems and had difficult times in relations with other countries. He welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision on the intra-party elections of PTI. Talking about the May 9 incidents, he said cases of some of the persons involved in the incidents would be tried in civil courts and some would undergo trial in military courts. Investigations into the May 9 incidents had been completed to a large extent, he said, adding the culprits would be handed down sentences in the coming months. He said Pakistan would need assistance of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the next few years.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)