\u201cI will be abroad due to my participation in the COP 28,\u201d PM Kakar tells media\u2019 Shahzad Iqbal
\nIslamabad
\nCaretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar Saturday confirmed that he would not appear before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in a case pertaining to the missing Baloch students.
\nThe high court had summoned the prime minister, relevant caretaker ministers, and secretaries for interior and defence, if the more than 50 missing Baloch students were not recovered by Wednesday \u2014 the day they were asked to appear before the court.
\nA single-member bench \u2014 headed by Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani \u2014 passed the orders as per the recommendations of the Baloch Enforced Disappearance Commission.
\n\u201cI will be abroad due to my participation in the COP 28. Obviously, as the prime minister, there are several commitments. Apart from this, we will ensure our representation in other relevant forums,\u201d he told Geo News\u2019 Shahzad Iqbal.
\nCaretaker Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti, in an interview, had voiced his reservations against summoning the prime minister. He claimed that it was \u201cnot appropriate if the court began summoning the premier on every other minor issue\u201d.
\nThe prime minister, in today\u2019s interview, also backed Bugti\u2019s statement that the number of missing persons in Pakistan was the \u201clowest in the region\u201d, claiming that it was \u201can aspect and a reality\u201d.
\nIt is noteworthy that former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, had in September last year, also appeared before the same court in a case pertaining to missing persons, where he claimed that he would not give \u201clame excuses\u201d if the people weren\u2019t recovered.
\nThe Sindh High Court had also, earlier this week, hinted at summoning the interim prime minister if police and provincial authorities could not make any progress in recovery of missing persons.
\n\u2018No favourites\u2019
\nWith elections nearing, several political parties have alleged that the caretaker rulers were favouring the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and not providing a level playing field to others.
\nBut Kakar ruled this out, stressing his stance that the caretakers had \u201cno favourities\u201d. He said that there are no restrictions on any party related to electioneering \u2014 whether it be the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) or the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
\n\u201cWe will ensure transparent elections. Some [parties] also use the \u2018victim card\u2019 to woo their voters,\u201d the prime minister said, noting: \u201cThere is no bar on PTI when it comes to election-related activities.\u201d
\nHe said that action would be taken on political parties\u2019 \u201cjustified complaints\u201d, but at the same time, he noted that there were sporadic instances where authorities had not allowed parties to hold rallies.
\nPost-elections, when asked how he saw the scenario as there were chances that allegations might be levelled that the polls were not transparent, he said: \u201cBig political parties and relevant stakeholders will have to think about it.\u201d
\nThe prime minister, who was a leader of the Balochistan Awami Party before being appointed to lead the interim government, said he had no intentions of joining any political party for now. \u201cBut yes, once this set-up comes to an end, I will definitely think about it.\u201d
\nIn the context of the economy, he said the nation would hear \u201cgood news\u201d in the coming weeks as he commended the Special Investment Facilitation Council, claiming that it represented a consistency of policy no matter who is in power.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cI will be abroad due to my participation in the COP 28,\u201d PM Kakar tells media\u2019 Shahzad Iqbal Islamabad Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar Saturday confirmed that he would not appear before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in a case pertaining to the missing Baloch students. The high court had summoned the prime minister, relevant […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":356908,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-370347","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n