ISLAMABAD – Amid the worsening political turmoil and deteriorating economicconditions in the country, Pakistan Caretaker Prime Minister AnwaarulKakar’s latest remarks about the next general elections have sparkedanother controversy.
Speaking to a foreign wire service, Kakar said that fair elections could beheld without jailed former prime minister Imran Khan and hundreds ofincarcerated leaders of his political party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf(PTI).
“Thousands of people in Khan’s party who didn’t engage in unlawfulactivities will be running the political process. They will beparticipating in the elections,” he said in an interview published onSunday.
Kakar, who is in the United States to attend the UN General Assemblysession, said this days after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)announced that general elections in the country would be held in the lastweek of January 2024.
PTI Chairman Khan is incarcerated in Attock Jail in a case related to thediplomatic cipher that allegedly went missing from his possession.According to Khan, it was proof of his claim that the US was behind hisouster from the office of prime minister in April 2022.
When asked, the interim prime minister refused that he would interfere withthe court decisions to overturn the PTI chief’s conviction. He was of theview that the judiciary should not be used for political benefits.
“We are not pursuing anyone on a personal vendetta,” Kakar said, “but yes,we will ensure that the law is appropriate. Anyone, be it Imran Khan or anyother politician who violates, in terms of their political behavior, thelaws of the country, then the restoration of the law has to be ensured. Wecannot equate that with … political discrimination.”
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He reiterated that the government would provide all the assistance to theElection Commission of Pakistan for holding elections. He ruled out theimpression that the military would tamper with the election results toensure that Khan was out of the election race.
In the recent past, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has called for a“level-playing field” for all political parties.
In a strong worded statement, the PTI said that people won’t acceptelections without Khan and his party leaders.
“The caretaker prime minister’s statement is a manifestation of theinsensitivity found in the state structure regarding the constitution,democracy and national interests,” the party said in a statement shared onX, formerly known as Twitter, on Sunday.
