PM assures nation of free, transparent and peaceful polls

Caretaker Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso has held out an assurance to the nation that free‚ fair‚ transparent‚ impartial and peaceful elections would be held on the 11th of this month.

Addressing the nation over radio and TV networks on Friday‚ Khoso said the mandate of the caretaker government and the Election Commission of Pakistan was holding transparent elections and all necessary steps would be taken to achieve the objective.

The prime minister said upon completion of the elections, the reign of the government would be transferred to the elected representatives of the people without any delay.

“We will not accept extension in the tenure of the caretaker government at any cost and under no circumstances.”

Khoso said every Pakistani had the right to express his opinion by exercising his of right to vote.

“The government will make sure that a voter is able to cast his vote according to his choice and freedom. We will ensure that sanctity of the vote is maintained.”

Khoso said he had issued instructions to all government departments and officials to remain impartial.

“Maintenance of peace and security is an important priority for the caretaker government. We will not allow anyone to disturb peace and play with life and property of the people or destroy peace. It is unfortunate that there have been acts of terrorism in Balochistan‚ Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Karachi and innocent people were martyred.”

He strongly condemned terrorism and said all measures were being taken to control terrorism.

The prime minister pointed out that although maintenance of law and order was under the domain of provincial governments‚ he was in constant touch with all caretaker chief ministers and law enforcement agencies so that the electoral process was conducted peacefully.

He said the government had prepared plans for deployment of army and quick response force to immediately respond to any untoward situation if and when required.

Khoso said the government had set up a special cell at the Interior Ministry to collect intelligence reports and share them with provincial governments and law enforcement agencies. “The cell is empowered to take decisions for timely action,” he said, adding that all resources would be used to improve the security of sensitive polling stations and their effective monitoring.

He said he was convinced that an independent and impartial election commission was capable of meeting any challenges during the electoral process.

He said the federal and provincial governments were extending all possible cooperation to the ECP to complete the electoral process in an peaceful manner.

The prime minister said the general elections carried extraordinary importance in view of internal and external challenges facing the country, adding that only an elected government could address these problems.

Khoso urged all political parties‚ clerics‚ people and the media to play their role in fulfilling the responsibility.

He said the appointment of a caretaker prime minister from Balochistan would have far-reaching effects and hoped that it would help address the sense of deprivation of the province besides promoting national solidarity.

The prime minister said he visited Balochistan recently and expressed satisfaction that all political parties of the provinces were taking part in the electoral process. He said during his visit to Karachi‚ he chaired a high-level meeting to discuss ways and means to conduct elections in the province and especially in Karachi in a peaceful environment.

Khoso said he was not oblivious to the problems of the people including the outbreak of measles. “Power load shedding is the result of a yawning gap between demand and supply of electricity.”

He said the Ministry of Finance had been instructed to release Rs 45 billion to ensure supply of fuel to power plants and increase power generation.

He said the Ministry of Water and Power had been instructed to ensure that there was no load shedding in the country for 36 hours from the evening of May 10 so that people could cast their vote and results were compiled expeditiously.

The prime minister said he had asked the Ministry of Finance to prepare the next budget on a realistic basis bringing down unnecessary expenditure‚ promoting austerity‚ preventing wastage of national resources and making good use of available resources, adding that it should not put unnecessary burden on the common man.

Khoso expressed confidence that the caretaker government would leave behind a better economy for the next government through financial discipline and administrative measures.