MULTAN – Asking the confrontationmongers to come out of their illusions, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani reiterated on Sunday that government would not let occur any collision ‘among the institutions’ as it respected the judiciary.
“Those, who think that the clash will happen and we’ll call the army to take control of situation, are in illusions. We’ll respect the judiciary while the executive and parliament will play their constitutional role,” he added while addressing a public meeting here at district sports ground after inaugurating the construction work of different development projects launched under Prime Minister Development Package.
Holding the masses as a supreme power, he said they wanted democracy to flourish in the country and not any clash. “Therefore, no clash will take place,” he added.
He maintained that the Constitution had set the limits for all institutions and, God willing, no collision would occur and all institutions would continue to work within their set limits. He lauded the role of the army, police, public and parliamentarians, saying they all rendered tremendous sacrifices in the war against terrorism.
He resolved to respect all institutions and strengthen them in the context of 1973 Constitution. “I want to tell those who’re planning to weaken the democracy that we’ll not let the fruit of Mohtarma’s sacrifice go waste. We’ve no more chance. We’ll hold democracy firmly as we’ve paid heavily for it,” he stressed.
Declaring last general polls as historic, he said: “It was general Musharraf who claimed he would not let Benazir and Nawaz Sharif return to the country. Now see! who is in and who is out?” he posed a question. He said the people responded to Musharraf’s challenge as a result of which today he was out of country while both Mohtarma and Nawaz Sharif returned. He said Benazir Bhutto sacrificed her life for the accomplishment of pledges she made with the public about changing the system. “She embarked on a mission to revive 1973 Constitution, protect the system and safeguard public’s rights. She gave her life for this mission,” he added. According to him, the PPP is the symbol of the federation and a guarantee to the national security.
Referring to the problems being faced by the public, he said his government owned all the problems. “We’ll never put the blame on previous governments. Today we’re in while they’re out because they failed to solve public problems. We assure you that we’ll settle all issues in five years,” he promised.
He said the enemies of democracy launched attack on Benazir Bhutto on her arrival while the country was under emergency rule and the judges were either removed or put under house arrest at that time.
“It was Mohtarma (Benazir Bhutto) who challenged the dictator and announced to restore the Chief Justice and hoist flag on his house,” the PM recalled, adding that Ms Bhutto convinced the entire world and forced the dictator to shed his uniform. “He ruled the country as president and army chief for eight years but he could not survive for just six months as president in democracy,” he told the audience, adding that the democratic vision of Benazir Bhutto forced the dictator to hold elections.
He credited Benazir Bhutto and President Asif Ali Zardari for the restoration of democracy in the country.
“It was Mohtarma who convinced Mian Nawaz Sharif to contest polls and when he visited Garhi Khuda Bukhsh to condole the martyrdom of Mohtarma, it was Asif Zardari who prevented Sharifs from boycotting the elections,” he maintained. He claimed that there would not have been free media, independent judiciary or democracy had the PML (N) boycotted the 2008 polls.
He said the PML (N) and PPP were running coalition government in Punjab while the latter formed government in the Centre while the person who could not find even a little space within the country was Gen Musharraf.
According to him, Multan is a historical place as many movements started from here. “Great leader Zulfikar Ali Bhutto launched his drive to change the system from Multan. He wanted to empower the common man, poor labourer and tenant, and proved that the change was possible through ballot.” He declared to revive the historic importance of Multan, saying it would be turned into Bhutto’s fortress.
Gilani announced to give jobs to the people, saying he was jailed for this crime and he would continue to commit it again and again. He said the government would launch such projects aimed at generating job opportunities. He said the previous government employed 100,000 persons and his government confirmed their services. He said he would talk to the Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif for release of big city allowance for Multan.
The public meeting was also addressed by the Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Hamid Saed Kazmi, Senator Malik Salah Udden Dogar, MPAs Abdul Qadir Gilani, Nazim Shah, Malik Ahmad Hassan Dehar and Amir Dogar, PPP Multan district coordinator Khalid Hanif Lodhi and city president Khurshid Khan.
Earlier talking to a delegation of Multan Press Club at Circuit House, PM said he was not opposed to the Saraiki province but the prevailing conditions did not permit the launching of this move. He reiterated that the government strongly believed in provincial autonomy. He said the performance of the government could be gauged from its achievements like declaration of NFC award. “We’ve ensured just distribution of national resources through NFC,” he added. He said the Karachi-Peshawar Motorway would be constructed soon.
Later on, the PM also met with the delegations of Multan Bar and hawkers. He announced Rs20 million fund for the construction of new chambers at the district courts. Similarly, responding to a demand from newspaper sellers, he directed the commissioner Multan division to select an appropriate site for the construction of a newspaper market.
