PTI slams caretaker govt’s SOEs privatisation plan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) spokesman Wednesday strongly reacted to the caretaker government’s plan to privatize state-owned entities (SOEs), urging the caretakers to focus on fulfilling the constitutional duty of holding polls within 90 days and desist from indulging in unconstitutional and unlawful acts.

PTI spokesman Raoof Hasan said in a statement that the privatization decision of the SOEs including PIA by the caretaker government was a clear deviation from the Constitution, as it did not have the mandate to make long-term decisions.

PTI spokesman made it clear that no unconstitutional and unlawful decisions of the caretaker government would be accepted by the next elected government because the sale of the SOEs by the government, which would last only for 53 days, was unjustifiable and illegal.

He advised the Caretaker Prime Minister to avoid the wasteful use of public money on the world trip and should focus on exercising his constitutional responsibility to conduct elections within the stipulated timeframe because the Constitution and law did not authorize the caretaker government to take long-term decisions, especially privatization and sale of national institutions.

The sovereign guarantees used by the caretaker government, he pointed out, for sale would also have no status, as the Constitution gave the authority to make such decisions exclusively to the government elected for five years by the votes of the people.

PTI spokesman reminded the caretaker that the interest of the state lies in the complete respect of the Constitution and that no recipe for development and salvation could succeed without full respect for the Constitution and law.

He contended, “Article 230 of the Election Act 2017 provides a detailed outline of the responsibilities of the caretaker government, which entrusts the interim set-up with the sole duty of assisting the Election Commission in conducting free, fair and transparent elections.”

PTI spokesman noted that the Elections Act binds the caretaker government to remain neutral and limit itself to day-to-day affairs, preventing it from making decisions on any major issue.

He suggested that since only 53 days were left of the caretaker government’s constitutional term, therefore, it should confine itself within the limits of the law instead of causing irreparable damage to the interests of the country and the nation by overstepping the Constitution.

PTI spokesman said that the caretaker government should pay attention to the conduct of fair and transparent elections in the country in the light of the spirit of Article 230 of the Elections Act 2017. He made it clear that the nation would never accept any attempt to loot the national institutions mercilessly, adding that any such step would be challenged at all levels from the court to the people.