Pakistani PM says not being 'dictated' by army, military 'not overstepping even slightly'

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said on Monday his government was not being "dictated" by the military, which had not "overstepped even slightly" during his three-week tenure.

The little-known politician believed to be close to the military was sworn in as Pakistan's caretaker prime minister last month to oversee national elections, due early next year, as the country navigates unprecedented political and economic crises.

Kakar's closeness to the army has been the subject of debate, as the Pakistan army has always wielded an iron, if cloaked, grip on Pakistani politics from behind the scenes and ruled the country directly for more than three decades of its 76-year existence. The military says it no longer interferes in political affairs.

During a briefing with foreign media representatives on Monday evening, Kakar said his government had an "excellent working relationship and mechanism vis a vis the military institutions."

"My 15 days of experience tell me they [army] are providing the inputs we are asking for," Kakar said when asked if his government could work independently given the military's outsized role in the country's politics.

There were "no instances," he said, in which he had felt his government was being "dictated."  

"They are not overstepping even slightly."

Speaking about former prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and whether it would be given a "level playing field" in the next general elections, Kakar said there was "no question" any party, including the PTI, would be kept out of elections.

Since May 9, when fury over Khan's brief arrest on graft charges fueled mob attacks on government buildings and military assets, his party has faced an unprecedented crackdown by the state, with dozens of top and mid-tier leaders in the PTI arrested alongside hundreds of Khan supporters. Key associates have gone on the run to avoid arrest while some of his closest aides jumped ship.

Khan himself was arrested last month after being convicted in a separate case involving his failure to declare assets earned from the sale of state gifts while he was PM, as scores of other cases against him are daily heard and adjourned in courts around the country. The three-year jail sentence comes with a five-year disqualification from politics that, unless Khan wins an appeal, has ended his chances of running in the next general election.

"No one is stopping any political party from participating in a normal political process," Kakar said, ruling out "positive or negative discrimination" against any party. "Equal footing will be allowed to all political parties."

Besides political turmoil, the South Asian nation is also on a tricky path to economic recovery under Kakar’s government after a $3 billion loan program, approved by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in July, averted a sovereign debt default.

Economic and fiscal reforms dictated by the IMF have already fueled historic inflation and interest rates and the country is in the grips of sporadic but nationwide protests against record electricity bills and fuel prices.

When questioned if his government would hold talks to renegotiate tariff rates with the country’s independent power producers given the crisis surrounding high electricity bills, Kakar declined to share details but said his administration was "thoroughly discussing" the option.

The PM did not specify if the negotiation process would only target local producers or if he would also seek similar rate renegotiations on Chinese-funded plants.