ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar Friday said that the general elections on February 8 would bring political stability to the country.
“The new government, after the elections, would have to work hard to achieve political and economic stability”, caretaker Premier Anwaarul Haq Kakar said during in an interview with a private television channel.
He asserted his government successfully achieved most of the set targets, saying a white paper would be issued to enlist these successes.
“The biggest challenges were economic issues,” he said, adding the next government would have to work with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and bring reforms in the taxation system to take the economy forward.
‘Privatization of SOEs’
PM Kakar said the government carried forward the process of privatisation of state-owned entities (SOEs), including Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). The process of privatisation was almost complete, he added.
The prime minister said the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) led the effort to sign $ 25 billion worth of memorandums of understanding with the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. The SIFC was formed by the previous government after enactment of a law in the Parliament, he recalled.
‘Social Media’
He emphasized the social media would be regulated and some people would have to stop the wrong use of the medium.
The previous governments worked to control negative aspects of the social media and in future a “national firewall” through use of technology would be created to subdue the negative tendencies, he noted.
‘May 9 incidents’
PM Kakar termed May 9 riots an attack on the concept of the State of Pakistan, saying he was very critical of the elements involved in the incidents from the very start.
“Only some specific elements of the PTI were involved in the unfortunate May 9, incidents. Therefore, the whole of party could not be kept away from Pakistani politics,” he said.
Clarifying his government didn’t target any political party, he remarked that undermining social order created anarchy which was not acceptable in any society.
“Social order is the guarantor of political order,” he added.
‘Iran’s attack in Balochistan’
The caretaker PM said Iran’s attack on Pakistani soil was absolutely wrong, which Pakistan responded to proportionately. “We were shocked by the attack of Iran as we were not expecting this.”
Both sides had agreed to the need for de-escalation, he added.
