Daily Times

Caretaker Interior Minister Mohammad Azam Khan Tuesday said the interim government would ensure transparent, peaceful election and would avoid summoning the army for help unless it was absolutely necessary.

Azam, who took charge as the caretaker interior minister after being sworn in as part of the six-member federal cabinet earlier in the day, said that was is the responsibility of the interim government to hold free and fair election.

“We will fully support the Election Commission of Pakistan and utilise the Interior Ministry’s institutions to ensure peaceful, transparent election,” he said.

The caretaker interior minister added that they would not summon the army unnecessarily, unless the situation demanded it.

“The law allows for summoning the army [for election] but it is only for extreme situations,” he added.

He remarked that he was informed via a telephone that he was being made the caretaker interior minister.

Formerly the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief secretary, Azam also met Interior Secretary Arshad Mirza earlier in the day. He held an informal meeting where he was introduced to officials at the Ministry of Interior.

Apart from him, the caretaker cabinet includes former State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) governor Shamshad Akhtar, former Pakistan ambassador to the United Nations Abdullah Hussain Haroon, former senator Roshan Khursheed Bharucha, Mohammad Yousuf Sheikh and Syed Ali Zafar.

Published in Daily Times, June 6^th 2018.