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Published 30 Oct, 2023 06:27pm

‘We are a transitional democracy and not a settled one,’ says PM Kakar

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar has said that democracy in Pakistan was not settled but a transitional one.

“All the PTI and pro-PTI people are talking about democratic and electoral reforms post of ouster of PTI’s government. Prior to that, you do not see that narrative coming from their cadre and their leadership,” he said while addressing the students at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (Lums) on Monday.

The former government has passed a law, empowering the ECP to give a date for the elections, PM Kakar said while responding to a question regarding the delay in the elections.

“It is not the mandate of the caretaker government to give an election date, but a mandate of the Election Commission of Pakistan,” he said.

He said that people thought of him as “a product of a forceful takeover of a government.”

“I feel like I am a product of a military takeover and I had to respond to certain challenging questions. In fact, I am the product of a constitutional order. There was a leader of the house and a leader of the opposition in an assembly, which was probably elected by all of you or many of you,” he said while responding to a question.

While discussing the delay in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab assembly elections, he referred to Article 254 of the Constitution, which according to him says, “If something is late, does not make it unconstitutional.”“

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