Interim Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar has suffered an embarrassing barrage of hard-hitting questions from students as LUMS’ pupil grilled the caretaker premier with quries about delayed elections, late arrival and ‘rigged elections’.
What started off as an open discussion suddenly devolved into a tough interrogation as students barraged him with critical questions. One girl even asked, “Why did you feel the need to come and address amid declining economy?”
Because LUMS was ordered to invite Kakar ? pic.twitter.com/jkLJ5VU3Xa
— Salman Ahmad (@sufisal) October 30, 2023
Speaking to the students at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Kakar urged them to explore different career paths fearlessly and to not be afraid of making mistakes. This lesson was quickly reinforced when the students touched sensitive subjects, which put him in a difficult position as he searched for satisfactory solutions.
Whether being caretaker Prime Minister @anwaar_kakar you had to courage to step down for supporting unconstitutional acts—?
— M Azhar Siddique (@AzharSiddique) November 1, 2023
In what observers and social media users described as a “feeble explanation” he offered about the election outcomes notoriously reeking of rigging, the premier said: “Pakistan’s democracy was in the transitional period.”
IK has indeed given the Pakistani nation the confidence and courage to speak up,stand with constitution, rule of law & today Pakistanis stand firm with his ideology. IA together under the leadership of IK we will built a brighter& prosperous Pakistan.
LONG LIVE IMRAN KHAN!#LUMS pic.twitter.com/jp8LO1KA5R— Mahira Ahmed (@mahiraahmed__) October 30, 2023
He then referred to the controversial 2021 Senate elections when seven votes apparently cast in favour of the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) joint candidate, Yousuf Raza Gilani, were rejected, pointing out that PTI did not embrace a pro-democratic stance until after Imran Khan’s removal from power.
“Forget about who did it [the outcome of Senate polls] … we all know who did it. I was also part of it” he admitted. “It [Pakistan’s democracy] had not been a settled one like that of a European country where the democratic system had taken a shape.”
What we witnessed in LUMS was just the tip of the iceberg.
People, especially youth, are fed up with the idea of having a bleak future in this country and will show their real anger on the election day.
It’s why duffers are afraid of holding elections. They’ve lost it badly.
— Outlander (@AzaadOutlander) October 31, 2023
60% of Pakistan are under 30. This student tells Kakar, what they think of him and his class. pic.twitter.com/HtRVnGVlqf
— Salman Ahmad (@sufisal) October 30, 2023
Social media users cheered the students for their bravery in asking the leader tough questions after seeing video of the interaction go viral. Social media users credited former Prime Minister and PTI chief Imran Khan for inspiring the confidence and courage displayed by the young students. The interim prime minister’s apology for rigged elections was ridiculed by one user, who wrote, “The caretaker prime minister’s message to LUMS students: elections are always manipulated, fixed, or controlled.” It happens frequently, so don’t worry about it too much.
