LAHORE: Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani said on Sunday that he will not take any advice fir writing to Swiss authorities for reopening of graft cases against the President but will follow the constitution.
“I will follow the Constitution,” the Prime Minister told reporters in Lahore when asked about the Supreme Court’s observation that he should write to Swiss authorities and do not wait for any advice.Giving no indication to accept the apex court’s repeated orders, Gilani said he would follow the Constitution and that he could not do so without the advice of counsel Babar Awan.
He said that any inquiry into the Swiss bank issue should have been referred to the Parliament which was also the supreme body to re-write the Constitution.The Prime Minister said that all over the world President, Prime Minister, who is executive head of the government, and Foreign Minister had immunity as long as they were in power.He said former military ruler Pervez Musharraf had no right or mandate to change the Constitution as it was the prerogative of the Parliament.
Questioned on the appointment of Lt General Zaheer-ul-Islam as the new ISI DG, the Prime Minister said the appointment had been made on merit as the general was a competent person.Asked how it would affect Pak-US relations, Gilani said the Parliament would soon debate new parameters of the relationship where inputs from all stakeholders would be considered.On the Baluchistan issue, the Prime Minister said that an All Parties Conference would be called after consulting all the stakeholders.
He said he had instructed all law enforcement agencies to respect the mandate of the Baluchistan government and extend their full support to it.According to Gilani, the total number of missing persons in the province is 49.Asked about his comments on the Memogate, he reiterated that it was a non-issue. “It is a waste of time. We are all running after a black cat in the dark,” he remarked.On the Mehran Bank scandal, Gilani thought the issue should have been opened much earlier because few of the movers were still alive today.
To a question, he said conspiracies had been hatched against democratically elected PPP governments in the past.About the PML-N, he said it will have to face court proceedings for the first time in the Asghar Khan case.Regarding a contempt of court case, the Prime Minister said the media was somehow complicating two cases. He said one case was of contempt of court in which he was being represented by Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan while the other was being heard somewhere else in which he had no consul.
To a question, Gilani said the PPP government was serving the masses with utmost sincerity and the people were aware of it, and added no party other than PPP, could provide relief to the masses.About Asalm Gill, he said that he was quite upset on Gill’s failure in Senate elections, adding that the government would look into the matter while Gill would be accommodated in the set-up by the PPP-led coalition.
Earlier, Prime Minister Gilani condoled with the family of the late Tariq Masih Gill who passed away on March 1. The PM expressed deep grief and sorrow on the demise of Gill and remained with the family for some time. – Onlinenews
