Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Monday said any grand opposition alliance would be good for democracy and would not pose any threat to his government. Talking to reporters at a ceremony organised by the US embassy to mark the 236th Independence Day celebrations of the US, Gilani said a strong opposition made the government stronger in a democratic dispensation.
To a question on the moves by the PML-N to form a grand alliance, he said any grand alliance of opposition parties would not be a risk to the government, as it would be a check on the government and would help improve its performance.
He said the PPP did not part ways with the MQM. “We are friends and this friendship will continue.”
While addressing the ceremony earlier, Gilani said the values of freedom, democracy and human rights had inspired millions of people and scores of nations around the world and this was also a bond that united the peoples of the US and Pakistan.
“The people have cherished, aspired for, and laid their lives to achieve these ideals … As we embarked on our own struggle for independence in the early decades of the last century, we too yearned to create a homeland where the values of democracy, of dignity and of equality of human beings would thrive and reign supreme,” the prime minister said.
US Ambassador Cameron Munter said, “On this day, the Americans reaffirm the values that gave birth to, and have sustained, their nation for more than two centuries. We honour values that we believe are not unique to our people, but are the birthright of all men and women, everywhere and at all times. We believe, as our Declaration of Independence proclaimed to the world, that all men and women are created equal, ” he added. Remembering Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s dream of tolerance and freedom for all, Munter said former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, governor Salmaan Taseer, minister Shahbaz Bhatti, journalist Saleem Shahzad, the men and women of Pakistan’s armed forces, and so many others throughout the years had sacrificed their lives for peace.
