Prime Minister (PM) Yousuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday offered Pakistan’s private sector the control of ‘bleeding’ public sector enterprises (PSEs) to rebuild the economy but asked them to press those elements who want to destabilise the government to give democracy a chance.
Speaking extempore during his address to 24th RCCI achievement awards distribution ceremony 2011 participants at the convention center, Gilani said: “I want to handover Steel Mills to you. Come and be my advisors. As the best brains you should handle the Pakistan Railways and other state enterprises. I am ready to give these to you. But you should ask those who want to destabilise the democratic system to give democracy a chance.” He said the time to enter politics through the backdoor has ended. “People have understood that if a unanimously elected prime minister can’t steer the country out of crisis then no one can. We return to the people for votes. If they don’t vote for us, we respect that,” he said. He said if an individual thinks he can resolve the complex issues faced by the country, he was living in fool’s paradise. He said those attempting long marches and sit ins against power outages could not have made a difference if elected. Referring to the PML-N leadership, Gilani said those who want to destabilise the system should reveal how many power projects they had installed when they were in power? “And then came a dictator who, like the PML-N, did not add a single megawatt to the national grid,” he added. Praising the PPP’s energy policy, Gilani said it was Benazir Bhutto who had introduced the independent power producers (IPPs) who had contributed a great service.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani while terming the Karsaz tragedy a clash between the champions of democratic Pakistan and the forces of backwardness and bigotry, said on Tuesday the courageous people of Pakistan would not allow a handful of bigoted minority to impose its agenda on peaceful majority. “The Karsaz tragedy marks a watershed in that it drew a clear line between pro-democracy and peaceful political forces and militants and bigoted elements,” Gilani said in his message on the 4th anniversary of Karsaz tragedy on October 18.
