News
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Civil servants should ensure continuity in policy: PM* Gilani says government has decided to hold local bodies polls in Islamabad
* Sitting parliament passed more than 100 laws, amendments
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said on Tuesday that as a symbol of the permanent state structure, civil servants needed to demonstrate the will and ability to manage change while maintaining continuity in policy.
Policy needs to be continued irrespective of whichever government is in power, he told participants of the 96th National Management Course, at Prime Minister’s House.
Gilani said the government had decided to hold local bodies polls in the capital. He added that establishment of local governments improved governance. “But it is unfortunate that provincial governments still have to hold local bodies elections,” he said.
The prime minister said that in democracy, the mandate of people should be accepted, adding that they had given a split mandate which led to the formation of a coalition government and “we have to live with it”.
He said his government had continued its policy of reconciliation which, he added, should be taken as strength and not as a weakness.
He said the present parliament had passed more than 100 laws and amendments which is “a far better record than that the past governments”.
The prime minister said the democratic government was committed to the vision of making Pakistan a progressive, federal, democratic, pluralistic, moderate and peaceful country.
The 1973 Constitution was a great achievement of the Pakistan People’s Party under the charismatic leadership of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, he added.
“There is no denying the fact that the Constitution of 1973 has been instrumental in keeping the federation intact after the debacle of Dhaka in 1971.”
He said that in order to restore the constitution to its original form, the government had evolved consensus among political parties. He said the 18th Amendment showed a rare consensus among all political parties having representation in parliament. “As result of this amendment, executive powers of the prime minister have been restored, parliament and provincial assemblies have been strengthened and provincial autonomy has been expanded, with the abolition of the Concurrent List,” he added.
“This was a long-standing demand of provinces and along with the 7th National Finance Commission (NFC) Award, this measure alone has altered the framework of federal-provincial relations,” Gilani said.
He said the change in constitution had opened up prospects for better governance by making provinces directly responsible to people at the grassroots.
“The 19th Amendment has ensured the independence of judiciary,” he said.
He said when the PPP government had taken over, it inherited a fragile economic situation, balance of payment crisis, external shocks due to global recession and a huge fiscal imbalance.
The fiscal deficit was 7.6 percent, current account deficit had reached 8.4 percent, fiscal space provided by the rescheduling of over $12 billion loans in 2002 had been lost, growth had lost momentum, reserves began to deplete as the rupee fell and inflation peaked at unprecedented 25 percent, he added.
The prime minister said that over the last four years, the government took difficult decisions to get out of a threatening situation. “In particular, we gave relief to our vulnerable segments. We have shown great discipline to reduce government expenditures. We have mobilised domestic tax revenues to lessen our dependence on borrowing to bridge fiscal deficit. We have achieved historic performance in our external sector. We are beginning to show stronger growth of the economy.”
He said the government’s efforts to achieve high growth and employment were hampered by the unprecedented floods and the monsoon rains. app
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk