News
Monday, December 05, 2011
Agreements with US will be reviewed: PM* Gilani says key issues will be debated in parliament to evolve national consensus
* Says there is no use of attending Bonn moot
* Memo issue blown out of proportion
LAHORE: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has said that the government has decided to reconsider the agreements reached with US, NATO and ISAF during the Pervez Musharraf era.
Talking to media persons at the State Guest House on Sunday, the prime minister said it has been made clear to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that there would be no compromise on the sovereignty of the country and Pak-US relations were being reviewed. He made it clear that all decisions would be made in the interest of the nation and the country would not surrender over just a phone call from America.
Gilani announced that his government will use parliament to develop ‘Uniformed National Policies’ on Pak-US relations, Kashmir, nuclear programme, foreign affairs and national security issue that would be free from the influence of Pakistan Army. He said that these policies would follow the wishes of the nation as well as greater interest of the state by taking all the stakeholders on board.
In his interaction with the media, the prime minister pointed out that parliament was the best forum to formulate national policies through debate and discussion. Answering a question, he noted that outstanding issues like relations with the US, NATO, ISAF, Kashmir, India and nuclear programme have direct bearing on the sovereignty and security of the country, and would be debated in parliament to evolve national consensus. The premier assured that Pakistan nuclear assets were in safe hands under a complete command and control system with the prime minister as the Chairman of the Command and Control Authority. Commenting on the memogate issue, he said that the scandal was not a big issue but had been blown out of proportion. He firmly said that the memogate scandal neither imperils the government nor has created a crisis in the country.
Democracy in Pakistan had fully matured, Gilani said, adding there would have been no need to go the apex court as all such issues of national interest could have been discussed and deliberated in parliament. The PM said that governments cannot be toppled with the publication of an article in a foreign newspaper. He said that there was no danger to the government as everyone wanted the completion of constitutional tenure of present parliaments.
Coming down hard on Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief, Nawaz Sharif, he said that there were bigger concerns than the memogate scandal in Pakistan but Nawaz Sharif never went to court for those and it was unclear why he was pushing on this issue only. About the decision of boycotting Bonn Conference on Afghanistan following the death of 24 Pakistan soldiers in a NATO/ISAF attack on border posts in Mohmand Agency last week, the prime minister said the decision was taken by the Defence Cabinet Committee (DCC) and supported by the people of Pakistan. The premier further said that in his telephonic conversation with President Hamid Karzai and US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton he had explained reasons behind the decision to refrain from attending the conference which offered little benefit to Islamabad. staff report/agencies
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk