PM Kakar halts official duties

Says caretakers now only awaiting the oath-taking of elected government

ISLAMABAD:

 

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar has ceased official tasks and returned all pending summaries awaiting his approval, citing the imminent swearing-in of the new federal government.

Kakar said all pending decisions and summaries will now be deferred to the incoming government. “We are simply awaiting the new government’s inauguration,” he stated. “Furthermore, we will provide the new administration with a comprehensive briefing on our activities and projects.”

Controversy arose over the National Assembly's inaugural session on Sunday when President Dr Arif Alvi declined to green-light its commencement apparently due to non-allocation of reserved seats to the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).

The SIC, a lesser-known political entity, emerged as the major party in the National Assembly and the provincial legislature of Punjab after independent candidates affiliated with PTI joined it last week.

The standoff escalated as the PML-N argued that, following the February 29 deadline expiration, the NA speaker could independently convene the session. However, a former Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) official dismissed this assertion.

The caretaker parliamentary affairs ministry had sent President Alvi a summary urging the NA session's commencement on Monday.

Despite the plea, President Alvi invoked his constitutional authority to delay the session by 15 days, expressing concerns about the completion of the reserved seats allocation process.