ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani Saturday said
Saturday that joint session of the parliament to finalise the new
strategy on Pak-US relations and to revive the NATO supply routes, will
be held after the completion of the Senate elections which are scheduled
on March 2.
Talking to reporters in Islamabad he explained that
the government decided to hold joint session of the parliament after
the Senate elections to discuss this important issue so that the new
senators could be involved in the decision making on this important
subject.
Prime Minister Gilani said the government will consult
with opposition leader for holding next general elections. He said the
government take the statements of the opposition as advice and take
practical steps on these statements if these are in national interest
and for the welfare of the people.
Replying to a question about
the strategy in the final year of his five years term and before going
to the polls, the Prime Minister said he had asked the Ministry of
Finance to prepare people’s welfare budget.
He said the Ministry
of Finance has also been asked to create 100,000 jobs this year. He
said it has been decided that there will be burden directly on the
people in the next budget and efforts should be made to give them more
incentives.
Gilani said all the stakeholders will be consulted
before the finalization of the next budget. Regarding the shortage of
power and gas, the Prime Minister said the government has been taking a
number of steps to over power the shortage of these basic commodities.
He said the present government 3500 MW electricity has been added in the
national grid and a large number of new connections have been given to
the people.
The government has taken short term, mid term and
long term decisions to resolve the power shortage, he added. He said Rs.
50 billion has been cleared from the circular debt while remaining
amount will be cleared during this year so that full potential of power
generation could be utilised.
The Prime Minister said the
government is also making sincere efforts to resolve gas shortage and
Pakistan is committed to avail all possible means for it, including the
Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline and importing gas from Qatar.
He said
his advisor on Petroleum and Natural Resources is in Qatar to expedite
and materlised the MoU singed with Qatar in this regard. Gilani said
another important issue is law and order, and added that government has
been taking all possible steps to improve it. He said there is no threat
to Pakistan as it is strong, stable and powerful country and its
defence is in strong hands.
"There is no threat to Pakistan, no danger to Pakistan as it is a stable and strong country."
The
Prime Minister said Pakistan is a responsible state and an important
member of the international community. Replying to a question on
Balochistan issue, the Prime Minister said a committee has been
constituted to contact political leadership of the country to convene
All Parties Conference on the issue.
Gilani said he will meet
with the Governor and Chief Minister of Balochistan very soon to consult
with them to engage all the stakeholders in the consultations for the
improvement in Balochistan. He said the government has already initiated
"Aghaz-e-Haqqoq-e-Balochistan" which is a first step to ensure the
rights of the people.
He said its a small step but the
government is committed to ensure the basic rights and privileges to the
people living in Balochistan. He said, "It is our responsibility as the
federal government and his responsibility as prime minister of the
country to resolve the grievances of the people of Balochistan as they
are very much committed to integrity, solidarity, progress and
prosperity of the country."
Prime Minister said these leaders
are not popular among the masses. He however said the decision to open
NATO supply will be taken in national interest and not on the demand or
under pressure from any group. He said the decision to stop NATO supply
was also in national interest and he did not asked the leaders of
"Difa-e-Pakistan Council". The Prime Minister also clarified that there
was no under hand deal by the PIA to purchase the new aircraft and it
was approved by its Board of Director and PEPRA rules are not applicable
at this stage.
Regarding awarding Most Favrouite Nation (MFN)
status to India, the Prime Minister explained that it means ’no
discrimination" in trade activities with any country. He said Ministry
of Trade has been discussing it so that balance of trade should be
ensured before giving MFN status to India. About expected decision of
his contempt of court case in the Supreme Court, the Prime Minister
said, "I will be martyr or ghazi".
Answering a question about
Khuram Rasool, being investigated for corruption charges, the Prime
Minister said these charges against Khuram were prior to his assuming
the office of prime minister.
He further explained that Khuram
Rasool was a PPP worker and he was associated with PPP Murtaza Bhutto
and was responsible for media campaign of PPP. Online
