News
Monday, September 03, 2012
Pagara doesn’t see elections very soonPPP will follow constitution on Swiss letter issue, says Gilani
* Ex-PM says president enjoys immunity
* PML-F chief advises govt to write letter
Staff Report
LAHORE: Former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Sunday said that President Asif Ali Zardari had immunity and that the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) would follow the constitution on the issue of writing letter to Swiss authorities to open cases against him.
The former prime minister said that when he was in office and Pir Pagara’s father was the then Pakistan Muslim League-Funcitonal (PML-F) chief, the PPP won all elections unopposed because it had no clash with the PML-F. “We will fight the election together in the future,” he said, adding that the PPP would contest election with support of its coalition partners.
PML-F President Pir Pagara said that ground realities in the country told that polls will not be held soon, while Gilani, who is also the vice chairman of the PPP, said that fair and free elections were in the best interest of his party.
Pir Pagara said he did not see appropriate environment for election. “The ground reality is such that the election will not be held soon, but it is everyone’s right to prepare for elections,” he said.
To a question about alliance with the PPP in future, he said he was trying to bring back all the friends he had in 1985 during the local elections in former president Ziaul Haq’s era. He, however, said that his father had made alliance with the present government, but he would decide anything in that regard after observing the situation.
Clarifying his position about meeting with Gilani, he said the meeting was personal, not political.
To another query about his faction’s possible alliance with the PML-N, Pir Pagara said, “Apart from political ties, I have personal relations with Nawaz Sharif.”
Talking about situation in Karachi, he said the government had failed to control law and order situation in the city. He said if law and order situation was not controlled in Karachi, it would affect the whole country. The government should appoint honest and dedicated officers to solve the problem, he added.
The PML-F chief urged the government to write letter to Swiss authorities in the light of Supreme Court’s orders. “Confrontation with the Supreme Court is inappropriate. The government should write to Swiss authorities as directed by the court,” he said.
To a question about rumours regarding election, Gilani said such reports were baseless and urged all political parties to show maturity.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk