Pak government has failed to deliver: UK envoy

In an unusual blunt remark, British envoy Adam Thomson has said Pakistan needs "radical change" as the government has failed to deliver, but cautioned against any "unconstitutional" move against the democratic set-up, including a prolonged caretaker administration.

The high commissioner told a group of Pakistani journalists, "Pakistan needs radical change. Pakistan's economy is not growing fast enough, Pakistan's governments -- federal and provincial -- are not delivering enough to the people."

He stressed the need for an impartial caretaker government and an effective Election Commission to ensure the credibility of elections expected to be held by May after the Pakistan Peoples Party-led government completes its five-year term.

Thomson told the journalists during an interaction on Thursday that change should be democratic and come through Constitutional means, "not by storming parliament or prolonging a caretaker government beyond the constitutional provisions. It needs to be through the ballot box".

He referred to the four-day sit-in protest led by cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri outside parliament and said demonstration was an "authentic expression" of discontentment among millions of ordinary Pakistanis.

The public were concerned about lack of services and also whether political leaders were accountable. "Whether they are delivering for ordinary Pakistanis, and whether they are themselves meeting the high standards set for them in Pakistan's Constitution."