KP bureaucracy tilted in PTI's favour: caretaker govt.

PESHAWAR -- Khyber Pakhtunkhwa caretaker minister for information Feroze Jamal Shah Kakakhel on Friday claimed that it was not possible to hold fair election to the provincial assembly as there's a '100 per cent' tilt to former prime minister Imran Khan's party, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, in the entire local bureaucracy.

'We [caretakers] have taken an oath to hold free and fair [PA] elections but we won't be able to do so due to the partiality of the current bureaucratic set-up towards the former ruling party PTI. Bureaucracy is creating hurdles for us and even the chief secretary seems to be helpless to act against it,' Mr Kakakhel told reporters here during a briefing on the cabinet's prolonged meeting on Thursday.

The information minister said that it was not humanly possible for people to stay politically neutral as they had political affiliations or leanings.

He said that the caretaker government won't be able to carry out its duties regarding the fairness of the upcoming electoral exercise until the secretaries holding key administrative positions in the province for six and seven years were transferred.

Minister says fair polls not possible in current circumstances

Mr Kakakhel advocated the immediate reshuffle of all secretaries in the province to ensure the fairness of the provincial assembly's election.

'It [bureaucratic reshuffle] is not something difficult. Just transfer secretaries for at least two months or until the elections are held and let them return to their respective posts before the elected government is installed,' he said.

The minister said that he didn't label bureaucrats as the pro-PTI people but would say that no tilt was seen to any other political party in the bureaucracy.

He said that it was the responsibility of the caretaker government to provide a level playing field to all political parties for participation in the assembly election as well as to help the Election Commission of Pakistan conduct the electoral exercise.

Mr Kakakhel also said the caretakers were also supposed to 'identify and remove' political appointees to the government departments.

He said that the last...