ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said this week that Pakistan’s military is “here to stay” in the country’s politics, adding that civilian institutions would have to enhance their capabilities to ensure the military does not meddle in their affairs.

Pakistan’s military has ruled the country directly for more than three decades of its 76-year existence, wielding an iron, if cloaked, grip on politics even from behind the scenes. The last time the military dismissed a Pakistani civilian government and seized power was in 1999. The army now says it no longer interferes in political affairs.

Speaking to Turkish public broadcaster TRT World on Monday, Kakar acknowledged the existence of an imbalance in Pakistan’s civil military relations. He said civilian institutions in the country responsible for service delivery “are performing quite poorly” for the past three to four decades. The Pakistani prime minister said the military was the only institution in Pakistan with the organizational capability to tackle the country’s governance issues.

When asked if the military “is here to stay” for the foreseeable future in Pakistan’s politics, Kakar responded:

“Well, pragmatically, realistically, and honestly if I have to answer it, affirmative. Yes.”

Kakar said Pakistani politicians had formed alliances with the military over various periods of time to attain political power, adding that once out of government, they shift the blame on the military for their own governance failures.

“If someone is genuinely interested that the military should not meddle in the affairs of the state structure, which probably is not their role, then we need to enhance the capabilities of the civilian institutions,” he said.

“The solution is not to weaken or dwindle the organizational strength of the current military.”

A relatively lesser-known political figure with apparent ties to the military, Kakar assumed the role of Pakistan’s caretaker prime minister in August. He has been tasked with heading an interim government charged with overseeing the upcoming national elections, a responsibility that comes at a critical juncture when Pakistan is confronting a multifaceted web of political and economic challenges.

Earlier this month, Kakar said the military was providing the inputs his government was seeking and that his government did not feel it was being “dictated” to.

“They are not overstepping even slightly,” he said during a briefing to foreign media representatives.