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Saturday, April 10, 2010



Army not interfering in govt’s affairs, says Gilani

* Prime minister says 18th Amendment is dividend of policy
of reconciliation
* Hopes Senate will pass bill swiftly

By Tahir Niaz

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Friday praised the armed forces for not interfering in the affairs of the political government.

In his address at a luncheon hosted by National Assembly Speaker Fehmida Mirza to celebrate the passing of the 18th Amendment Bill, the prime minister said the army was supporting democracy while remaining in the ambit of the constitution.

He said if all state institutions continued to work while remaining within their respective spheres, Pakistan would continue to prosper and gain stability. The prime minister said there were areas in the constitution that still needed improvement, adding that he hoped that the future generations would improve upon them in accordance with changing times. He said the National Assembly had worked for the trichotomy of powers and hoped that the Senate would follow suit.

Dividend: Prime Minister Gilani was of the view that the consensus on the 18th Amendment Bill was the dividend of the policy of reconciliation adopted by the government.

Hope: He hoped that the Senate would follow the National Assembly and would pass the 18th Amendment Bill unanimously and swiftly to restore the balance between state institutions.

He paid tribute to the people of Pakistan, the members of parliament and the parliamentary committee for achieving this consensus. He said the consensus of 442 parliamentarians - 342 from the National Assembly and “hopefully 100 from the Senate” was something unprecedented and spoke volumes of the policy of reconciliation that was successfully being pursued by the government. Gilani said the policy of reconciliation would lead to economic and political stability and was the need of the hour as the country was passing through a critical juncture.

He paid tribute to President Asif Ali Zardari for voluntarily yielding his powers. Gilani said he could have done so from the next tenure of the assembly, but he was gracious enough to accept it without any delay.

The prime minister said there was a need to build the capacity of the members of provincial assemblies so that they could effectively handle financial matters after the passing of the NFC Award.

Gilani said there was also a need for the provinces to focus on causes that lead to terrorism and to spend more on compulsory education.

Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk

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