Caretaker PM assures nation of ‘fair polls’ in Pakistan

Islamabad [Pakistan], August 14 (ANI): A day after Anwarul Haq Kakar was appointed as the caretaker prime minister of Pakistan, he announced his resignation from the Senate as well as the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), Dawn reported citing Geo News. 

Geo News quoted him as saying that since it was his responsibility to hold free and fair elections, for which Kakar has to cooperate with the Election Commission, he had the taken the decision to step down from his posts.

In a statement posted on his ‘X’ handle (formerly known as Twitter), Kakar said: “Owing to the fundamental responsibility conferred upon me as the caretaker prime minister, I have decided to surrender my membership of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) and relinquish my Senate position.”

Meanwhile, PML-N’s key ally in Balochistan, Akhtar Mengal who heads the Balochistan National Party, in a letter to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, expressed dismay over the appointment of Kakar without consultations with allies.

Mengal said that such decisions created “more distance” between Balochistan National Party-Mengal and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). In a letter written to PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, Mengal stated, “You have nominated such a person as the caretaker prime minister whose appointment has closed the doors of politics for us,” according to Geo News report.

“Such decisions have created more distance between us and you,” he added.

In the letter written to Nawaz Sharif, Mengal expressed disappointment with the way PML-N was choosing to ally with the army instead of taking politicians on board, Geo News reported.

He accused the PML-N of forgetting the “conspiracies and unconstitutional” actions of the former military ruler and President Pervez Musharraf.

He wrote, “A solution is being sought by consulting the establishment instead of politicians,” adding that the “atrocities” of military-led regimes from General Ayub to General Musharraf were not yet forgotten.

Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar was named Pakistan’s caretaker PM after Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the Leader of the Opposition in the outgoing National Assembly Raja Riaz concluded consultations on August 12.

Kakar is a lawmaker belonging to Balochistan Awami Party (BAP). Speaking during a farewell ceremony before the announcement of Pakistan’s caretaker PM at the Prime Minister’s House, Shehbaz Sharif said that a hybrid system that works for the country’s progress is better.