Election date coming soon: PM

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on Monday said the final date for voting would be announced soon and that the caretaker government was trying its utmost to facilitate the electoral process. Addressing a press conference, he said no major political party was out of the political process unless anyone was legally barred. About the return of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Quaid Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister Kakar said that he was a political reality and his adversaries should face him in politics. About the economic situation, he said for the first time in the country’s history, the dollar rate had meaningfully reduced and that he would hold a follow-up meeting with provincial chief secretaries later in the day to ensure the trickle-down effect on the common man in form of commodities’ prices and transport fares. To another query, the prime minister said the existing business model of print media was flawed and would collapse. The print media entities should realign their business approach to thrive the private business instead of relying on the state. The premier said the Chinese investment expected under the newly signed 20 MoUs would prove to be a stimulant for Pakistan’s economic growth. The prime minister said 20 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) were signed and hoped that the upcoming government would ensure consistency of the policy. The prime minister, along with a high-level delegation visited China from October 16-20, mainly to attend the Belt and Road Forum where he also held bilateral meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Qiang, and the leadership of the Communist Party of China. During the visit, the two sides signed 20 agreements and MoUs, covering cooperation on the BRI, infrastructure, mining, industry, green and low-carbon development, health, space cooperation, digital economy, development cooperation and export of agricultural products to China. “The signing of 20 MoUs was very encouraging. This is after a long time that the MoUs in such a huge number were signed with China… We have brought along three guiding principles of coordination, cooperation and consultation with us,” he remarked. He said the MoUs were yet in the planning stage and the assessment of the potential, market needs and impact on exports would precede their execution. He said a designated cell at the Prime Minister’s Office would carry out the follow-up of the bilateral and other engagements with China to pave the way for their implementation. Mentioning his interaction with the Chinese business leaders, he said under the second phase of CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor), the Chinese private business entities would invest in Pakistan’s agriculture, mining and other sectors. He told the newsmen that Pakistani leadership’s “constructive” engagement with Chinese counterparts was well received by the Chinese people, media and think tanks. Emphasizing the consistency of relations with China, he expressed the hope that the upcoming government would carry forward the momentum as any deviation from the commitments might put the state’s dignity at stake. He said the address by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Forum was in fact an answer to all the challenges confronting China, the region as well as the whole world. He said the land, sea and aerial connectivity under the Belt and Road Initiative would not only bring the regions closer but also create opportunities for the people. During the visit, the prime minister also met presidents of Russia, Sri Lanka and Kenya. In their meeting, the Kenyan president told him that a lot of investigation had been done into the killing of Pakistani news anchor Arshad Sharif and assured him of working in coordination with the Pakistani authorities. Coming to the issue of Gaza, Prime Minister Kakar told the media that humanitarian aid had landed in Egypt for its onward dispersal to the suffering Palestinian people. However, the foremost priority was the cessation of hostilities for which Pakistan was making collaborative efforts as the country had also co-hosted an OIC (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) ministerial meeting in Jeddah on the issue. Meanwhile, Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar directed the authorities concerned to accelerate steps for trickling down the impact of reduced prices of the petroleum products to the common man. The prime minister, chairing a review meeting to discuss the impact of oil prices’ reduction on commodities’ rates, instructed that the effect of reduction of petrol price by 12.38 percent and diesel by 4.7 percent should be trickled down to the common man at the earliest. He said Rs 41 billion had been saved due to the stability in dollar rate and reduction in petroleum prices, and the relief would be extended to the common man. The meeting was apprised of the recent oil prices reduction and outcomes of operation against power theft and smuggling. It was told that due to the reduced petroleum prices, inflation had come down by 1.7 percent which was the highest during the last one year. The prime minister appreciated the administration for taking steps to reduce oil prices and dollar rate, curb smuggling and transmitting their impacts to the common man. He instructed the relevant authorities to strictly deal with the hoarders and profiteers, and viewed that the operation against power theft and smuggling had benefited the consumers. He said 18 percent reduction of wheat price and sugar by 16 percent in Balochistan was welcoming. He said due to the administrative measures, the prices of 24 commodities had been reduced countrywide. The meeting was told that remarkable reduction in the prices of agricultural production, electricity, transport fares and industrial production was being ensured. The Planning Ministry was utilising the a software application “Decision Support System for Inflation” designed by the National Bureau of Statistics to monitor the prices of eatables. The chief ministers of Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab, and Balochistan chief secretary briefed the meeting on the steps taken by them on the subject matter. It was told that due to the administrative measures taken by the provincial governments, the transport fares had been reduced by 10 percent. The meeting was told that an operation was going on against hoarders and profiteers. It was told that respective administrations were ensuring the reduction of commodities’ prices in accordance with the decrease in oil prices. In the meeting, the provincial administrations presented the indicators of ratio in reduction of prices and inflation. The briefing was given on the reduction in eatables prices including dry ration, commodities, wheat flour, sugar, ghee, oil, fruits, vegetables and meat. It was told that the district magistrates at the district level in all the provinces were actively working to transmit the benefits of oil price reduction to the common man.