LAHORE: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar says the Supreme Court has nothing to do with making laws as it is an exclusive domain of the parliament.

Speaking to the students of a private university here on Monday, Kakar said he had strong views on whether the military courts could be held (for trial of civilians), but the apex court thrashed them out.

“It could be a good or bad law, but the third-party had nothing to do with it. It is not the function of the apex court to make laws, but of the parliament,” he said.

With reference to the May 9 incidents, the premier said: “If you want to have the right for violent agitation, then be ready for lawful consequences.”

In the US too, the protesters involved in the Capitol Hill violent incidents were handed down different sentences, he added.

He said that in Pakistan, democracy was in a transitional phase and it had not been a settled one like that of any European country where the democratic system had taken a definite shape.

He said that for reaching the destination, well-defined principles should be laid down beyond the political considerations.

“There should be an informed discourse, instead of political dogfights on TV screens,” he said and regretted that certain social and political trends, kind of hate and abuse on social media platforms, had become a part of our lives.

Encouraging the students to take bold decisions and engage in informed discourse over various challenges being faced by the country, Kakar stressed that they should first explore themselves and then search for what they believed.

To a question regarding freedom of expression, the interim prime minister said the state had its constitutional rights and pointed out Article 5 which demanded unconditional loyalty with the state.

The premier said the interim set-up was tasked with running the whole country which was going through economic crunch and implementing an IMF programme.

He regretted that a majority of the people in the country were not contributing towards taxes as the tax ratio in Pakistan stood around 10 per cent of its GDP and stressed upon increasing the tax revenue like the Scandinavian countries.

Kakar said the federal government would need to amend the rules to promote the locally-developed crop seeds.

Published in Dawn, October 31st, 2023