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Saturday, July 03, 2010
Mid-term polls no solution to issues: Gilani
* PM says all issues will be settled by the end of govt’s 5-year term
* Entire nation is being affected by fake degrees issueISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani on Friday stressed that mid-term elections are not the solution to any problem and all issues will be settled by the end of the government’s five-year term.
“The government is working according to the constitution and only those political forces, who are not in the parliament, are talking about the mid-term polls,” the PM said while talking to journalists at the Prime Minister’s House.
PM Gilani reiterated the government’s commitment to crush terrorism, saying dealing with the threat of terrorism was still the government’s top priority. “There should be a national policy on security issues,” he said.
The PM, however, said that poverty, unemployment and lack of education were the real reasons behind the spread of terrorism.
He said that the delay in fulfilling the pledges made at the Friends of Democratic Pakistan in Tokyo was affecting the reconstruction process in the affected areas.
Referring to the numerous cases in which courts released terrorism suspects, the prime minister said effective and strict laws would be introduced to bring terrorists to justice.
He said that the judiciary and media in the country were totally independent.
To a question about the issue of fake degrees, the prime minister said the law was introduced in 2002, but it was neither followed nor implemented then. “Now the whole nation is being affected by the problem,” he said.
He said the government had great regard for the judiciary and would fully implement all its decisions.
The PM stated that the politicians are aware of all “hidden and open hands” that were trying to destabilise the democracy. “However, as long as there is democracy, no harm can be done to any institution,” he said.
Address to the nation: In his monthly radio address to the nation on Friday, the PM said that the 18th Constitutional Amendment was a major step towards stability of the democratic system.
Strongly condemning Thursday’s terrorist attack on Data Darbar, the prime minister urged religious scholars and the nation to stand united and foil the designs of terrorists.
“These ignorant people do not even realise the status of the great personality whose teachings brought hundreds of thousands into the fold of Islam,” Gilani said, while referring to the contribution of Data Gunj Bakhsh.
The PM said he had summoned a meeting of law enforcement agencies on Monday to review the security situation in the country.
The prime minister also stressed the need for international aid to Pakistan to help it deal with the threat of terrorism. “We alone can no more continue with the war against terrorism and it is the duty of the civilised world to cooperate with Pakistan,” he said. staff report/app
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk