Prime Minister (PM) Mir Hazar Khan Khoso and his cabinet members were given a farewell dinner at the PM Secretariat following which the prime minister was shifted to Balochistan House to facilitate the renovation process underway at the PM House.
A source who attended the dinner said it was a befitting send off to the third consecutive premier within a time span of only one year as former premiers Yousuf Raza Gilani, Raja Pervez Ashraf and now Mir Hazar Khan Khoso were seen off by the PM’s staff.
The function, which was hosted by Principal Secretary to the PM Khwaja Siddique Akbar, was attended by cabinet members and other officials while favourite dishes of the outgoing premier were specially prepared for the occasion.
In his remarks, the outgoing prime minister expressed gratitude to his cabinet colleagues who, he said, had fully backed him in achieving the gigantic task of holding free, fair and peaceful election.
“When I took over, law and order situation was worse and three provinces, including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Karachi in Sindh and Quetta in Balochistan were facing chaos and terrorism. In that scenario, holding elections looked next to impossible. But I feel lucky for being blessed with great colleagues who helped me achieve this impossible task,” a source quoted the prime minister as telling the participants of the dinner.
The premier said not only law and order, but other problems such as electricity and gas load shedding, economic challenges and crises being faced by national institutions such as the Pakistan Steel Mills were also daunting problems the interim government had to look into.
“But there was no provision in the constitution to escape the situation and we had to conduct polls, in any case. I had a strong resolve to hold polls on schedule and I am happy that we achieved our objective and the nation braved all threats and came out to vote,” he added.
The outgoing premier said from now onwards, it was the responsibility of the elected political leadership of the country to carry forward the good work already done.
He said despite many challenges, the caretaker government fulfilled its constitutional responsibility and successfully conducted elections in the country.
Prime Minister Khoso said the caretaker regime, besides concentrating on holding elections also worked hard to address all other problems.
“My cabinet members and I were committed to holding elections through thick and thin, which was our mandate and we have delivered our responsibilities in an efficient manner,” he said.
Separately, a spokesman of the PM House said Khoso would be staying in Islamabad till the new prime minister takes oath.
