Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Wednesday said the opposition was all alone and had no agenda for the people, adding that if they wanted any change in the government, they should bring a no-confidence motion against him in the National Assembly.
“We have never taken the opposition as a threat… the opposition is afraid of the next Senate elections in which the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) is set to secure a clear majority… Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and his party are with the government and they will remain with us… rather we will fight the next election together. The MQM has been with us and has helped in a lot of important legislation. MQM ministers have not left the cabinet. We hope that they will also remain with us,” Gilani told reporters after launching a photo exhibition at the PNCA auditorium.
Asked how the government would tackle the PML-N legislators’ protests if they staged demonstrations outside the Aiwan-e-Sadr, Gilani said the parliamentarians represented parliament and the president was also part of parliament being the head of the state. He said his government believed in democracy and everyone had a right to express his viewpoint. To another question, Gilani said dengue and Imran Khan were enough to upset the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). Asked why all coalition partners were leaving the PPP, Gilani said the opposition would be left alone too.
To another question, the prime minister said everything, including load shedding, had become a problem for the government. “They (opposition) will be left alone because they have no agenda… if judiciary gives a verdict, they say they are with the judiciary, if the army comes up with a stance on Kerry-Lugar Bill, they say they are with the army thus they themselves have no agenda. Now they are taking up the load shedding issue but when we resolve the issue in 48 hours, the opposition will take up some other issue,” he said.
Gilani accused the Sharifs of maneuvering and exploiting the load shedding issue to bring the public on the roads, stating that the people were not protesting. Asked about his response to the allegations of Afghan President Hamid Karzai about Pakistan’s role in the recent acts of terrorism in Kabul, Gilani said the source of the information was doubtful as President Karzai had conveyed his desire to have a meeting soon.
Relations: Asked about the Pakistan-US relations, Gilani said the bilateral relationship had faced many ups and downs but now the talks were moving in the right direction. About talks with the militant groups, the premier said his party believed in the three Ds policy based on dialogue, deterrence and development and he had always followed the same policy guideline. “We had talks with the militants of Swat when the entire world was opposing it. However, later when the talks failed, we decided to conduct an army operation in Malakand,” he said.
To another query about destabilising the Punjab government, Gilani said his party believed in democratic norms and would respect the public mandate of the PML-N.
PM throws down the gauntlet
