A ray of hope

Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar has been nominated as the caretaker Prime Minister of Pakistan after a consensus was reached between Prime Minister Shabaz Sharif and opposition leader Raja Riaz during a recent meeting on the issue. According to the Prime Minister’s Office, the Prime Minister and the opposition leader jointly signed the advice and sent it to President Dr Arif Alvi to get formal consent from him. The opposition leader told the media that during the consultation process, the main theme was that the caretaker Prime Minister should be a non-controversial personality from a small province. The opposition leader proposed the name of Senator Anwar Kakar for the top slot and Shahbaz endorsed his proposal.

Another important milestone was covered by the chaos-hit nation smoothly when a consensus was built between the outgoing government and the opposition on finalizing the name of Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar as caretaker prime minister, that is a sane and highly adorable achievement in the prevailing situation. Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar is a noble person and reputed politician, and well versed in political and administrative skills necessary to steer the country through a crucial election period. The Senator has previously worked as Spokesperson for the Balochistan government during Balochistan Awami Party (PAB) tenure and has good ties with civil and military establishment.

The newly chosen caretaker Prime Minister hails from the least developed region in the poverty and violence hit Balochistan province, which commonly owes serious grievances from the centre regarding the manipulation of mineral resources, oil, gas and gold reserves that least benefit the Baloch people. Meanwhile, armed insurgency and flourishing terrorism are other issues that worsley affect the social life and economic development in the province. Therefore, as son of soil, a great responsibility rests over the shoulder of the caretaker Prime Minister to resolve longstanding issues of its native province which includes but not limited to ending simmering Baloch insurgency through political dialogue, resolution of the issue of Baloch missing persons along with clarification of doubts among a particular section of Baloch people regarding the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is real path of growth and prosperity for the Baloch people.

As a media outlet, the Frontier Post will take advantage of this opportunity by suggesting that in the limited timeframe of the next few months, Mr Kakar should particularly focus on the Redo Diq gold mining project, issues relating to Gwadar, initiation of a public-private partnership in CPEC projects, promotion of fishery industry in Balochistan along with concerted efforts to curb corruption and improve law and order situation in the country that is crucial before, during and after the electoral process. Realistically, the new incumbent can make the Pakistanis realize that Balochistan is a province that can only change the destiny of the whole of Pakistan.

There had been doubts and apprehensions regarding a neutral and impartial interim setup that can oversee the governmental affairs and smoothly steer the country through the election season so the electoral process completes successfully and smoothly. The nomination of An­war-ul- Haq Kakar was a good omen for Pakistan. Cur­rently, the country faces overlapping problems relating to the economy, security, law and order situation, while the caretaker Prime Minister has a heavy responsibility regarding the appointment of a capable and credible caretaker team of Ministers to steer the country through these challenges.

Hopefully, Kakar’s federal team and provincial caretaker governments would also be neutral and notable individuals. The interim setup should play its con­stitutional role in administering the reins of the country until the next elections and will show its best performance in holding a transparent, free, fair and timely election in the country. At the same time, all state institutions and political parties must support the caretaker setup in fulfillment of the great task of holding credible elections, so this nation moves toward political stability and economic revival.