Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso, in an unprecedented address to the nation, on Friday said that the government’s primary responsibility was to conduct free and fair elections peacefully.
With a week left before the general elections on May 11, Khoso assured the nation that the interim government would hand over power to the elected government without any delay and urged the public to vote.
“I request you all to come out and vote on May 11,” he said.
After establishing that the interim government planned to follow the standards established by the founders, Khoso discussed the issues faced by Pakistan and what steps were being taken by his short term cabinet to counter them.
“We are trying to maintain peace in Pakistan,” he said in reference to the recent terrorist attacks on various political parties including the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Awami National Party (ANP).
“No one will be allowed to derail democracy and I severely condemn the recent terrorist activities,” the prime minister stressed.
He also listed out efforts that the interim set up had taken to curb terrorism in their area.
“We have formulated quick action forces to handle any emergency that occurs during the general elections,” he maintained. “A cell has been formulated to gather sensitive information [regarding any attacks planned by militants or any other terrorist activity] and provide it to government which will take relevant action,” he revealed.
Khoso assured the nation that they were fully cooperating with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and expressed his satisfaction that all political parties were actively participating in the upcoming elections.