Terming
the efforts for the formation of a ‘grand alliance’ a non-starter,
Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Monday said there was no final
word in politics, which was a day to day affair. “There is no final word
in the politics. Politics is a day to day affair. Grouping of some
political parties being viewed by them (the opposition) as a grand
alliance is a non-starter”, Gilani said in an interview with a private
TV channel.He said the formation of new alliances and breaking up of
old ones was part of the political process.“We have enough experience
of political alliances. They (the opposition) do not know how difficult
is to keep the allies together, as the political parties have different
manifestoes and agendas,” he added.
He said the
leadership of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has much tolerance, patience
and a spirit of political accommodation, which is critical for keeping
the allies together.Gilani, however, agreed that all the political parties should join hands to strengthen the country and tackle various challenges being faced by it.
Replying to a question about the statement of Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif during his visit to London, Prime Minister Gilani said he was astonished about the corruption allegations levelled by the Punjab Chief Minister against the Federal Government.
He said Shahbaz Sharif should think before levelling such corruption charges against the Federal Government because their (PML-N’s) government was dismissed twice in the past on similar charges.
“They (the opposition) should not malign the country”, he said.
Gilani said the country received a record over $ 11 billion in foreign remittance, for which he was too much appreciative of the Pakistani expatriates who were contributing in the country’s socio-economic development.
Replying to a question about the statement of US Admiral Mike Mullen regarding the murder of journalist Saleem Shahzad, Prime Minister Gilani said, “this statement is tantamount to interference in our sovereignty”.
He said Pakistan would not allow anyone to interfere in its national affairs.
The Prime Minister, however, said that if the United States had any proof regarding the involvement of government or establishment in the murder of Saleem Shahzad, the proof should be presented before to the independent investigation commission headed by a judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
On the issue of Pak-India relations, Prime Minister Gilani recalled his meetings with Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in Sharm El Sheikh and Thimpu and said the two sides then agreed to resume the dialogue process for resolution of all issues including the core Jammu and Kashmir dispute.
He said his Indian counterpart Dr. Manmohan Singh acknowledged that India had committed a mistake by delaying talks with Pakistan.
The Prime Minister said the dialogue process between Pakistan and India had already started at the levels of foreign, commerce and interior secretaries and now the foreign ministers of two countries would hold talks.
Replying to a question about the law and order situation in Karachi, the Prime Minister said peace was a must for economic stability of the country.
The Prime Minister urged all the political parties to extend full support and cooperation to the government in maintaining peace in Karachi.
Gilani said the government would not tolerate any hindrance in efforts to maintain peace in the Karachi.
The Prime Minister also appreciated the cooperation of Pir Pagaro, the chief of PML-F in this respect and said there would be no compromise on the issue of peace and stability in Karachi.
To a
question the Prime Minister said there should be a core group of the
United States, Pakistan and Afghanistan to decide the future of
Afghanistan. Pakistan should also be included in talks and future of
Afghanistan, he said.
“ We want a peaceful, prosperous, independent and sovereign Afghanistan as it is in the interest of Pakistan,” he said.
The Prime Minister said after the withdrawal of Soviet Union’s troops from Afghanistan, the United States left us alone and the vacuum was filled by the militants.
About the statement of new US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta that Aiman al Zawahiri, who succeeded Osama bin Laden is hiding in tribal areas of Pakistan, the Prime Minister said,”if the US has supreme its own national interest and we too have. We had intelligence and defence cooperation with the US and despite that the May 2 Abbottabad incident took place—We did not like it, we protested it and we condemned it.”
He said that both the US and Pakistan achieved all their targets against terrorists with intelligence sharing. He said that the May 2 incident was intelligence failure of the entire world as they could not trace Osama bin Laden.
The Prime Minister said now the US had agreed that in future they would not take any unilateral action in Pakistan.The Prime Minister said it was the vision of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto who introduced the policy of Independence Power Producers (IPPs) in 1994 to address the problem of electricity shortage.
But after her government the issue was brought to the courts and the then Chairman Ehtesab Bureau Saifur Rehman registered cases against the PPP leadership and the result was that foreign investors left Pakistan, he said.
Gilani said later a single megawatt of electricity was produced neither by Nawaz Sharif’s government nor during Pervez Musharraf’s regime.
“So the credit goes to Benazir Bhutto otherwise the country would have been living in stone age,” he said and added,” we have already added 2000 megawatt power to the national grid during the last three years while another 2000 MW is in the pipeline.”
He said the Kalabagh Dam had been politicized and those who were talking about this dam, had allocated no amount in their budgets for its construction.
He said those people also wanted to politicize the Diamir Bhasha Dam but the government took it in the Council of Common Interests (CCI) and all the four provinces agreed on it.
The Prime Minister said after a period of 63 years the government resolved the issue of Thar coal project and work on it had been started.
He said the government was also importing 1100 MW electricity from Iran while its production from nuclear energy had also been started. He said electricity was also being produced from wind power in Sindh.
The Prime Minister said all available electricity resources would be tapped through implementation of short, medium and long term projects.
The country was facing power shortages due to wrong policies of the previous governments, he said and added that electricity shortage had affected “our agriculture and industry”.
He said that there should be consistency in development projects. The country needed political stability to channelize all the resources and it was also must for economic stability.
The Prime Minister said that unprecedented development work was going on in each and every constituency of the country and during the next two years “we will inaugurate projects instead of laying their foundations”.
He said the global recession had hit the entire world while the last year’s floods had damaged Pakistan’s economy to a great extent. The government would pay the committed amount of Rs 100,000 to each affected family of flood, he reiterated.
The Prime Minister said that Pakistan with 65 per cent population of youth had a bright future. “Our trade has reached $26 billion, foreign currency accounts to $11 billion and foreign reserves to $18 billion”, he added.
“ We want a peaceful, prosperous, independent and sovereign Afghanistan as it is in the interest of Pakistan,” he said.
The Prime Minister said after the withdrawal of Soviet Union’s troops from Afghanistan, the United States left us alone and the vacuum was filled by the militants.
About the statement of new US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta that Aiman al Zawahiri, who succeeded Osama bin Laden is hiding in tribal areas of Pakistan, the Prime Minister said,”if the US has supreme its own national interest and we too have. We had intelligence and defence cooperation with the US and despite that the May 2 Abbottabad incident took place—We did not like it, we protested it and we condemned it.”
He said that both the US and Pakistan achieved all their targets against terrorists with intelligence sharing. He said that the May 2 incident was intelligence failure of the entire world as they could not trace Osama bin Laden.
The Prime Minister said now the US had agreed that in future they would not take any unilateral action in Pakistan.The Prime Minister said it was the vision of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto who introduced the policy of Independence Power Producers (IPPs) in 1994 to address the problem of electricity shortage.
But after her government the issue was brought to the courts and the then Chairman Ehtesab Bureau Saifur Rehman registered cases against the PPP leadership and the result was that foreign investors left Pakistan, he said.
Gilani said later a single megawatt of electricity was produced neither by Nawaz Sharif’s government nor during Pervez Musharraf’s regime.
“So the credit goes to Benazir Bhutto otherwise the country would have been living in stone age,” he said and added,” we have already added 2000 megawatt power to the national grid during the last three years while another 2000 MW is in the pipeline.”
He said the Kalabagh Dam had been politicized and those who were talking about this dam, had allocated no amount in their budgets for its construction.
He said those people also wanted to politicize the Diamir Bhasha Dam but the government took it in the Council of Common Interests (CCI) and all the four provinces agreed on it.
The Prime Minister said after a period of 63 years the government resolved the issue of Thar coal project and work on it had been started.
He said the government was also importing 1100 MW electricity from Iran while its production from nuclear energy had also been started. He said electricity was also being produced from wind power in Sindh.
The Prime Minister said all available electricity resources would be tapped through implementation of short, medium and long term projects.
The country was facing power shortages due to wrong policies of the previous governments, he said and added that electricity shortage had affected “our agriculture and industry”.
He said that there should be consistency in development projects. The country needed political stability to channelize all the resources and it was also must for economic stability.
The Prime Minister said that unprecedented development work was going on in each and every constituency of the country and during the next two years “we will inaugurate projects instead of laying their foundations”.
He said the global recession had hit the entire world while the last year’s floods had damaged Pakistan’s economy to a great extent. The government would pay the committed amount of Rs 100,000 to each affected family of flood, he reiterated.
The Prime Minister said that Pakistan with 65 per cent population of youth had a bright future. “Our trade has reached $26 billion, foreign currency accounts to $11 billion and foreign reserves to $18 billion”, he added.
To a question
about the role of media, Prime Minister Gilani said he did not mind,
rather appreciated the criticism of media on his person, but they (media
people) should also think of national interests like their counterparts
in other parts of the world.
“There is no problem in criticizing me or the President, but it should not be at the cost of country”, Gilani remarked.
To a question about his personal life and the politics, the Prime Minister said his family was used to his political activities from the day one as even on the second day of his marriage he as a member of the Central Executive Committee of the then Combined Muslim League attended the CEC meeting.
To another query, Gilani said he had learnt from his father to keep and treat the emotions and politics separately.
The Prime Minister said he had been maintaining deep contacts with the people and even during his five years of imprisonment he maintained the public contact and was helping the people from jail.
Gilani said he never thought of becoming the Chief Executive of Pakistan and he only attained this position owing to the blessings of Allah Almighty, the prayers of people and the trust of party.
The Prime Minister recalled that when he and PML-N leader Javed Hashmi were in prison, the fellow prisoners used to say that “I will become the Prime Minister and Javed Hashmi to be the President”.
“But I always said that our Prime Minister will be Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto”, he remarked.
Gilani also recalled that when he was sentenced, Asif Ali Zardari had then pronounced before the judge that “you are giving sentence to the future President of Pakistan.” APP
“There is no problem in criticizing me or the President, but it should not be at the cost of country”, Gilani remarked.
To a question about his personal life and the politics, the Prime Minister said his family was used to his political activities from the day one as even on the second day of his marriage he as a member of the Central Executive Committee of the then Combined Muslim League attended the CEC meeting.
To another query, Gilani said he had learnt from his father to keep and treat the emotions and politics separately.
The Prime Minister said he had been maintaining deep contacts with the people and even during his five years of imprisonment he maintained the public contact and was helping the people from jail.
Gilani said he never thought of becoming the Chief Executive of Pakistan and he only attained this position owing to the blessings of Allah Almighty, the prayers of people and the trust of party.
The Prime Minister recalled that when he and PML-N leader Javed Hashmi were in prison, the fellow prisoners used to say that “I will become the Prime Minister and Javed Hashmi to be the President”.
“But I always said that our Prime Minister will be Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto”, he remarked.
Gilani also recalled that when he was sentenced, Asif Ali Zardari had then pronounced before the judge that “you are giving sentence to the future President of Pakistan.” APP
