News
Saturday, July 21, 2012
General elections to be held on time: PM
* Raja says PPP a truly federal party, enjoys broad-based support across country
* Thanks ANP for consistent support
* Allies congratulate PPP over by-poll win
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: While discussing with the coalition partners the political situation and popularity of the government in the wake of Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) recent victory in by-elections, Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Friday said the next general elections would be held on time.
He held a meeting with a delegation of the Awami National Party (ANP), led by Senator Zahid Hussain, at the Prime Minister’s House.
Raja said the cooperation of the coalition partners was needed to overcome country’s challenges. The ANP delegation had demanded that elections should be conducted in time.
The delegation also discussed with the prime minister the overall situation of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, especially the issue of profits from the power sector.
The prime minister reassured the ANP leaders that a committee headed by President Asif Ali Zardari, and including himself, the finance minister and ANP’s Haji Adeel would look into the issue. The meeting also had a consensus over the projects of Malakand Tunnel and Dasu Dam.
The ANP leaders reiterated their consistent support to the coalition government which, they said, had been bracing all challenges with courage, fortitude and pragmatism, while upholding the best parliamentary practices.
The prime minister highly appreciated the support extended by the ANP, saying the leadership of the PPP and he himself were proud of ANP’s steadfastness as they had shown no reluctance at any stage to support the government. Raja made special mention of ANP’s struggle against terrorism and extremism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, saying that the party had successfully combated the menace by stopping its spillover effect from hitting the rest of the country. “Their resolve and determination against the evil is as strong as a rock despite their personal losses of lives and property,” he said.
Raja thanked the ANP senators and MNAs for congratulating him for undertaking a successful visit to Afghanistan. He said he would take ANP legislators along as part of an official entourage during his future visits to foreign countries, especially to the neighboring countries.
The prime minister also lauded their sentiments over the winning of by-elections by the PPP candidate in Multan, saying that the PPP candidate had defeated the joint opposition candidate who had support of major opposition political parties. He said the PPP was a truly federal party, which had broad-based support across the country and indeed was a great national asset.
No other party on the political landscape of the country had such a wide-ranging support in the country, he said. On the question of allocation of development funds, Raja said that parity would be observed in that regard. He underscored the importance of completing the ongoing development schemes.
The prime minister agreed with the participants of the meeting that the projects of Chashma Right Bank Canal, Lowari Tunnel in Chitral and Munda Dam in FATA were of immense importance and assured them that the federal government would extend the required financial and technical assistance in view of their importance for agriculture, overcoming energy problems, flood control and connectivity of Chitral with the rest of the country throughout the year.
Raja said the establishment of a university in Swat would be given urgent attention as its functioning would bring about revolution in the region in true sense because education was the best antidote to extremism and terrorism. Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain also called on the prime minister along with Deputy Prime Minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi. Both leaders congratulated the prime minister and the PPP on the by-election victory in Multan.Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk