News
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Cabinet gives nod to reopening of ZAB case
* Judicial review reference will be filed in Supreme Court
* Meeting approves devolution of five ministries to provinces
* Condemns desecration of holy Quran
By Zeeshan Javaid
ISLMABAD: The federal cabinet in a special meeting on Tuesday approved to reopen the murder case of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) founder, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (ZAB), through a constitutional reference to the Supreme Court (SC) under Article 186 of the constitution.
Federal Minister for Information, Dr Firdaus Ashiq Awan, told media men after the cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani that the cabinet gave approval to file a reference by President Asif Ali Zardari after a detailed discussion.
She said that the cabinet also gave approval for the transfer of five ministries to the provinces and Minister for Inter-provincial Coordination, Raza Rabbani, would brief the journalists about modalities with respect to employees and attached departments. “Ministries of education, culture, livestock and dairy development, social welfare and special education and tourism will be handed over to the provinces,” she elaborated.
“The prime minister also took the cabinet into confidence about his scheduled visit to India to see semi-final cricket match between the two countries on March 30,” she said, adding that it would be a way forward for resumption of a composite dialogue.
She added that the cabinet also condemned desecration of the holy Quran by an American pastor, Terry Jones, saying, “The incident has offended the sentiments of Muslims across the globe.
Firdaus said that the cabinet meeting also gave approval for the signing of MoUs with Tajikistan for cooperation in health sector and Sri Lanka for cooperation in the agriculture sector.
“The meeting also reviewed implementation status of previous decision of the cabinet and the prime minister directed to expedite their implementation and endorsed the decision of Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet of March 16,” she elaborated.
When asked to comment on Interior Minister Rehman Malik’s warning to the Pakistani players to be careful about match fixing, she said that the prime minister, being head of the cabinet, fully backed the Pakistan cricket team and Malik was only a member of his cabinet.
The minister said that the prime minister consulted all the stakeholders before accepting the Indian prime minister’s invitation to visit India for watching the match between Pakistan and India.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk